


True Love and Kindergarten Class

by courtneythenerd



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe-Kindergarten, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-17
Updated: 2014-03-17
Packaged: 2018-01-15 15:29:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1309864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/courtneythenerd/pseuds/courtneythenerd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek has never been this nervous in his entire life. Never. And it’s ridiculous, and he knows he’s overreacting, but he can’t help it. Derek’s taken care of lions, cheetahs, and sick bears. He’s tended to a zoo—a literal zoo—of animals in -2 degree weather and he’s sedated hysterical panthers. Derek’s kept crowds of people calm during a breach in the snake den while maintaining an appearance of utmost confidence and peace.</p><p> </p><p>And yet the most nerve-racking day of his life is Talia’s first day at school.</p>
            </blockquote>





	True Love and Kindergarten Class

Derek has never been this nervous in his entire life. Never. And it’s ridiculous, and he knows he’s overreacting, but he can’t help it. Derek’s taken care of lions, cheetahs, and sick bears. He’s tended to a zoo—a literal zoo—of animals in -2 degree weather and he’s sedated hysterical panthers. Derek’s kept crowds of people calm during a breach in the snake den while maintaining an appearance of utmost confidence and peace.

 

And yet the most nerve-racking day of his life is Talia’s first day at school.

 

"Daddy! Daddy, daddy, daddy! I’m ready!" Talia comes flying into the living room, all dressed up in her new favorite shirt, her new favorite leggings, her new favorite shoes and her brand spanking new backpack. Her brown skin is glowing with excitement and she’s practically vibrating. “Is it time to go, daddy??”

 

Derek looks at his daughter with the slightest hint of envy. She’s so excited for a day that’s been making his stomach twist into knots for months. “Calm down, Tally! I’m almost ready!”

 

"Oh, come on, Daddy! Let’s go!! I wanna go to school!” Talia grins manically and starts to jump up and down again. “It’s time to go to school!”

 

Derek can’t help but laugh. “Okay, okay! It’s time to go to school.”

 

"Yaaaaay!!" Talia screams as she dashes out to the car. She reaches the door and waits with surprising patience for Derek to come out.

 

Derek takes a breath as he buckles her in and plays with a curl of her hair. He should be excited. It’s his baby’s first day of kindergarten. She’s excited, so he should be too.

 

On the way, Talia babbles with excitement, asking him random questions without waiting for any answers.

 

"Daddy, do you think there’ll be animals at school?? There’re animals at your job.”

 

"Daddy, do you think the other girls are gonna like my shoes???"

 

"Daddy, do you think my teacher will know a lot about animals too??"

 

"OOOOH, Daddy, daddy, are you gonna come meet my teacher????"

 

This questions catches his attention and Derek smiles at his daughter through the rear view mirror. “Of course I’m going meet your teacher!”

 

Talia’s eyes open widen with amazing joy and she claps. “Oh, yay!! I can’t wait!”

 

Honestly, neither could Derek. In the months leading up to this day, Derek’s heard a lot about the new kindergarten teacher. He’s apparently a smart-animal-loving-people-loving-super-big-heart-having-floppy-eared-puppy-dog-like-super-awesome-teacher. With all those adjectives, Derek’s been having a hard time picturing this Scott McCall character.

 

But today both he and his little Tally are going to meet him. And the anticipating is killing Derek.

*******

Talia joyfully hops out of the car and Derek follows behind. They're through the front door and have maneuvered their way through crowds of fellow children, when Talia suddenly stops and whips her head around to face Derek. Her black curls flip and her eyes narrow in a way that is eerily similar to her mother, Braeden.

 

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Derek asks in concern, willing panic to stay out of his voice. No need to panic. They're just outside of a kindergarten classroom.

 

"Daddy, you aren't going to do your mean-scary-Grumpy-Cat face, are you?" Talia asks in an accusing voice.

 

Derek's eyes widen and his mouth falls open at his daughter's words. "Tally!"

 

Talia turns fully around to look at him, a stern look on her tiny face. It'd be adorable if Derek wasn't so busy being shocked.

 

" _Daddy_ ," Talia says, as if he were testing her patience. "I've seen the look, Daddy. You use it to scare away people you don't want around! Like men in suits and Uncle Peter and stuff."

 

"Hey!" Derek says indignantly, because he truly can't believe he's having this conversation with his five-year old outside of her kindergarten classroom. "I don't scare people away with my face!"

 

Talia gives him a look that screams, "Stop, lying!" and takes a deep breath. She looks as if she's about to explain something very simple to a very dim-witted person.

 

"Daddy, remember what happened on Halloween? Why we're not gonna get any more people anymore?" Talia asks carefully, looking up at her father expectantly.

 

Okay, so scaring away a group of kids and their parents wasn't his proudest moment. But those boys were being little jerks to Erica and Boyd's daughter, Alicia. He'd just wanted to make sure that they would stop and that they realized that they were _not_ going to be little jerks to Talia.

 

Talia steps close to her father and wraps a small hand around his wrist. "Promise me that you won't use the Scary Grumpy Cat face on my teacher. K, Daddy?"

 

Derek sighs and smiles good-naturedly. "Okay, baby, I promise."

 

"Daddy!" Talia says, holding a hand up. "You have to _pinky promise me_ , okay?"

 

Derek grins and wraps his huge pinky around that of his daughter. "I pinky promise to not use a scary face on Mr. McCall."

 

Satisfied, Talia grins widely and brightens up again. "Okay! Let's go in!" Talia tugs on Derek's hand, and he smiles down at his daughter as she leads him in. He's not so nervous anymore.

 

When he looks up from his daughter, he's in a brightly colored room, with posters of animals and vocabulary words and books all around. Talia looks around in amazement and excitement.

 

"Whoa," she says in a hushed voice.

 

Derek has to admit; the classroom is much more impressive than he'd imagined. First of all, it's _huge_. Second of all, almost every inch is decorated. It's a child's paradise, with dazzling colors, toys, children's books,  nap-time mats, and the cutest posters of animals Derek's ever seen (he's not ashamed to admit to the cuteness.  They're too cute to _not_ acknowledge it.) This Mr. McCall is either the most strategic teacher that's ever existed or the most caring, because it seems like he's literally spared no expense for his classroom.

 

"Do you guys like the room?"

 

A voice from behind prompts both Derek and Talia to turn around and damn it if Derek isn't hit with the brightest, widest smile he's ever seen on anything ever. Talia quiets down and shyly smiles up at her teacher.

 

He beams at them both and Derek seriously can't get over the shining face in front of him.

 

"Hi, I'm Scott McCall! I'll be your teacher this year!" He reaches out his hand to Derek, who has to remind himself to shake it like a normal human being might.

 

"Um, hello. I'm Derek Hale and this my daughter, Talia," Derek introduces as carefully as possible.

 

Scott McCall beams even wider, if that's possible. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Hale. And it's _very_ nice to meet you, Miss Talia."

 

Scott crouches down to Talia's level and offers her his hand to shake.  Timidly, Talia shakes his hand and quietly says, "Hi, Mr. McCall."

 

Scott smiles at her again and stands up to face Derek again. "So, _do_ you guys like the classroom? I figured I'd make it as obnoxiously bright as possible. You know, something to simulate the kids."

 

Derek uses this as an excuse to pry his eyes away from the ray of sunshine that is this man's face. "Oh, yeah, I think it looks great. Looks like you're working very hard for the kids."

 

Scott beams again, as if this were the best thing anyone's ever told him ever. "I'm glad you think so!" Scott looks down at Talia and says, "I have a lot planned for us this year. It's going to be as awesome. Are you ready?"

 

Talia smiles widely and nods vigorously. Derek looks between her and Scott. He's pretty sure that his daughter's fallen in love already.

 

"I guess it's time for me to go?" Derek doesn't mean for that statement to come out as a question, but his mind is too busy processing the way Scott's eyes crinkle when he smiles.

 

"Oh, no rush! We still have time for you to say your good-byes. Talia, make sure your dad doesn't cry. I can't _tell you_ how often parents cry!" Scott winks at Talia and she giggles. Then he turns and walks over to charm day lights out of another set of parents, no doubt.

 

Talia tugs on Derek's hand to bring him to her level.

 

"Daddy," she whispers, "Mr. McCall is really pretty."

 

That, he is.

*********

Eventually, Derek is walking out of the classroom, nervousness completely dissipated. As he's walking out, a high-pitched voice calls out to him.

 

"Hey, Mr. Tally's Dad!" the voice excitedly says.

 

Derek turns to see Erica and Boyd standing there with Alicia. Alicia's brown face, much like Talia's, is bright red with excitement and she waves ferociously.

 

"Hey, there, Alicia!" Derek says with genuine happiness in his voice. "Are you ready for your first day?"

 

"Uh huh!" Alicia says while nodding vehemently. "I already met Mr. McCall and everything! I'm just out here to make sure Daddy doesn't get all huffy looking."

 

"Hey, I don't appreciate that," Boyd drawls in his deep voice, an embarrassed smile breaking across his face.

 

"Don't worry, Boyd, Talia said the same thing to me."

 

"Well, Tally has a point, Derek," Erica says in her classic sarcastic voice. "You _are_ known for some of the best grumpy faces ever."

 

All three laugh at him and Derek rolls his eyes.

 

"Hey Alicia! It's time to come back in!" They all turn to see Talia leaning her head out of the door, Scott standing behind her with another smile--a softer one--on his face. "Oh, hey Mr. and Mrs. Alicia's parents!!"

 

"Hi, Tally!" Erica cries excitedly.

 

"Okay, Licia, time for you to go," Boyd says, giving his daughter one last squeeze.  Erica leans down and plants a huge kiss on her daughter's forehead.

 

"Maaa!" Alicia cries, wrinkling her nose, but not wiping the kiss off her head. "I gotta go, guys. Byeeee!" Alicia flits away and joins Talia. Scott waves to him as he ushers the girls inside and closes the door.

 

The trio turns to walk out of the school.

 

"So," Erica starts in a tone that never means anything but trouble, "were you as sick about today as Boyd's been?"

 

Derek barks out a laugh and Boyd rolls eyes. "I don't know what you're referring to," Boyd says. " _I'm_ not the one that stayed up until 2 am last night watching old videos of Alicia from when she was toddler."

 

Erica shoots him a look and halfheartedly pushes him. "Aw, shut it. You've been worse than me, Boyd. You bought her _twice_ as many school supplies as she needs!"

 

"I wanted to make sure she was prepared," Boyd says defensively, holding his head high and trying to not look embarrassed.  “And _how_ long did you spend fixing her hair this morning, Erica?”

 

Erica nudges her husband and bites her lip. “My baby wanted to look fabulous and so I made her look fabulous!” Erica flips her hair and then wiggles her elbows into Derek’s side. “But seriously, Der-Bear, how have you been?”

 

“To be honest, I was pretty worried,” Derek admits. “I just really want her to have a good first day. School was…rough for me. I don’t want it to be the same for her.”

 

Boyd nods sympathetically and Erica says, “Yeah, I know what you mean.” Then Erica flashes a smile and cocks an eyebrow. “But with _that_ teacher, I think _everyone’s_ going to have a good year!”

 

Boyd rolls his eyes and laughs. “Erica, _stop!_ That’s our daughter’s _kindergarten teacher.”_

 

Derek glances between them and shakes his head, an amazed smile on his face.  Not many people could maintain an open relationship while having a five-year old, but Boyd and Erica do it very well.

 

“That’s our daughter’s _beautiful_ kindergarten teacher!” Erica responds slyly. “Mr. McCutie! Isn’t that right, Derek?”

 

Derek hopes to God that he isn’t blushing. Thinking about Talia’s kindergarten teacher will _not_ make him blush. “I mean . . . he seems like a good teacher.”

 

“Boyd thinks he’s cute, too!”

 

“Hey, all I said was that I think that Scott seems like a very nice, capable guy.” Boyd says with a small smirk and narrowed eyes.

 

Erica rolls her eyes over to him and smirks back at him. “Which, in your language, translates to you thinking that he’s cute!”

 

As amusing as this conversation is to Derek, it’s also making the feeling that’s been pooling in the bottom of his stomach grow. He is _seriously_ trying to not think about the ray of light that blinded him when Scott McCall smiled at him. This is about his daughter and the fact that she’s probably going to propose to her kindergarten teacher by next week.

 

Once their outside of their respective cars, Erica leans against Derek’s and smiles wickedly at him.

 

“Admit it, Derek, you liked his face, didn’t you? There’s no _way_ you didn’t like that face!”

 

Derek gently moves Erica away from his driver side door and opens his door. “The way I feel about my daughter’s kindergarten teacher’s face is _not_ relevant."

 

“Yeah, right,” Erica mutters. Then she smiles at him and saunters over to her husband.

 

Derek watches them drive off and slides into his car. Once inside, he taps on his steering wheel and leans back into his seat.

 

It’s _not_ relevant, he decides. It’s not going to be relevant. At least he hopes it’s not.

********

When Derek was five years old and his kindergarten teacher asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he had replied, “A zookeeper!” and everyone, including the teacher, thought he was either joking or being ridiculous. So much so that the teacher had called his mother and told her that Derek had refused to give her a real answer.  

 

But after more than 150 volunteer programs and what might’ve been the worst high school experience anyone’s ever experienced, Derek became a junior zookeeper at age 18. Four years after he started, he got promoted to senior zookeeper after he managed to return several escaped monkeys back into their cages in under an hour.

 

Four years after _that,_ Derek became chief operating officer after he managed to charm several men in suits into donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to their zoo. While a lot of his work now takes place in an office, he still gets to make rounds and interact with animals. So now, at age 26, Derek is settling into his new position and has been enjoying his job thus far.

 

As Derek’s making his rounds, Isaac, his assistant director and the close friend (a friendship that Derek really can’t say how or when it happened, it just _did_ ), comes trotting up beside him.

 

“’Sup, boss? I see you survived Tally’s first day!” Isaac says, sounding as much of a little shit as possible. Isaac smiles widely and throws his arm around Derek’s shoulder.

 

“Shut up, Isaac,” Derek says gruffly, trying very hard to not smile at Isaac. Isaac _loves_ to mess with him and if Derek smiles, he’ll just be giving Isaac what he wants. “I didn’t think I wasn’t going to survive. And besides, her first day isn’t over yet.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ve noticed that you’ve been counting down to 2:25 since you got here at 9:00,” Isaac says teasingly. “She’s got—what?—another hour left?”

 

“56 minutes,” Derek supplies and instantly regrets it when he sees Isaac’s devious smile. “I mean, yeah, about an hour left.”

 

Derek walks past Isaac and checks on the penguins. Isaac, of course, follows him and continues to pick on his weaknesses.

 

Isaac walks with Derek and looks over at him with a look of evil. “You know, Derek, you never finished telling me about Talia’s teacher. What’s his name? McCute?”

 

“McCall!” Derek corrects quickly, staring intently at the otter’s bin and not at Isaac. “Scott McCall. And I never said he was ‘cute.’ You got that from Erica, didn’t you? You talked to her already?”

 

“Yeah,” Isaac sighs with deep satisfaction. “She called me right after she got to her store. She told me _all_ about the googlely eyes that were made.”

 

“I made _no_ googlely eyes!” Derek says defensively. “If anyone made ‘googlely eyes,’ it was Erica! Not me! I barely even noticed.”

 

Okay, so Derek _knows_ that Isaac can tell he’s lying, but it doesn’t hurt to try, right?

 

Apparently, it does, because Isaac’s little shitness increases exponentially. “You know, Derek, I wouldn’t have pegged you for someone you likes book-worms and stuff. Does he wear glasses? Nice little cardigans and stuff like that?”

 

Derek sighs and glares at Isaac. “No, he doesn’t wear glasses and he wasn’t wearing a cardigan! And who said anything about me liking him in any way other than appreciating his personality and how it relates to my daughter’s first school experience?”

 

Isaac blinks at him and grins widely. “Erica did,” he says in a sing-song voice.

 

Damn it, Erica.

 

Derek snarls at him and turns around, walking as quickly as he can to the polar bear section. He _really_ wishes he had an assignment to give Isaac or _something_ , but he doesn’t, so there is absolutely nothing stopping Isaac from following him around. And for the next fifty minutes, Isaac simultaneously checks animals’ cages and asks Derek the most probing questions possible. Eventually, it’s time for Derek to go pick up Talia.

 

“Ooo, can I come with you to pick her up?” Isaac asks with childlike excitement in his voice.

 

“Excuse me?” Derek asks, too confused to give Isaac the Grumpy Cat face (and Derek can’t _believe_ that he just called it that.)

 

“Yeah! I wanna hear about her first day! And see her first day outfit!”

 

“You wanna see her _teacher_!”

 

“That, too! Come on, let’s go!”

******

Derek barely stops his car before he (and Isaac) are both out and rushing into the school. Just as they’re going in, the kids are coming out. And he spots Talia and Alicia running with another little girl first.

 

“Daddy! Uncle Isaac!!” Talia shrieks in excitement. Isaac instantly preens and grins over at Derek, who rolls his eyes. Derek’s not sure exactly when and how Isaac got Talia to start calling “Uncle Isaac,” but Isaac’s head swells every time she does.

 

“Hey, pumpkin!” Derek reaches down and lifts Talia in the air. “How was your day?”

 

“It was _amazing!_ ” Talia declares seriously, looking her father directly in the eyes. “I love school!!”

 

“Aw, that’s wonderful! Your daddy was _very nervous_ about today, you know!” Isaac oh-so helpfully supplies.

 

Talia laughs and Derek’s not sure if she’s laughing at Isaac’s comment or at the way Derek’s face fell right after the comment. Either way, she’s amused.

 

“What’re you doing here, Uncle Isaac?” Talia asks. Then she gasps dramatically and asks, “Oh, did you come to meet my teacher too?”

 

Isaac’s grin gets even wider and Derek’s face transforms into what Erica’s dubbed as “The Hale Bitch Face.”

 

“Yes, I did, actually! I wanna make sure this teacher is good enough for you, Tally.”

 

“Uncle Isaac, Mr. McCall is the best teacher _ever!!_ ” Talia explains, eyes wide and face excited all over again. “He’s the nicest, smartest, most awesome teacher ever!!”

 

“Awww, thank you!  How sweet of you to say!”

 

Derek’s pretty sure that Scott’s actually a magician or something, because he suddenly appears in front of them, his 10000 watt smile on blast. Isaac’s smart ass smirk falls off his face and is replaced with a look of actual awe. Derek hasn’t seen Isaac speechless in a long time. It’s almost scary.

 

“Uncle Isaac,” Talia proudly presents from Derek’s arms, “this is my teacher, Mr. McCall. Mr. McCall, this is my Uncle Isaac! He came to meet you, too!”

 

Scott, still smiling, offers his hand to Isaac. Isaac quietly takes his hand and shakes it.

 

“Nice to meet you, Isaac,” Scott says happily, like he _actually_ means it or something.

 

“Um, likewise,” Isaac says. Derek hasn’t heard that tone of voice since Isaac meet his sisters Cora and Laura for the first time.

 

“So, how did Talia do today?” Derek asks when he realized that Isaac wasn’t going to say anything.

 

“Talia was wonderful today. She’s very smart and I love working with her,” Scott compliments enthusiastically. From Derek’s arms, Talia beams as if she’s just won a surprise trip to Disney World or something.

From behind him, another teacher calls Scott’s name.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I have to go,” Scott says in a genuinely sorry voice. “I’ll see you tomorrow!” He says as he rushes off.

 

“Bye Mr. McCall!” Talia cries excitedly, waving.

 

Derek’s lowers Talia onto the ground and they start walking towards the car.

 

Isaac leans over to Derek and whispers, “Okay, Erica was right. That guy _is_ beautiful.”

 

“Shut up,” Derek growls quietly.

 

Talia, thankfully oblivious to their conversation, slides into the backseat and immediately puts her seat belt on. As Derek and Isaac slide into the driver and passenger seats, Talia asks, “Daddy, can we go over to Auntie Laura’s house? I wanna tell her and Auntie Cora about my first day!”

 

“Of course, Tally. Right after we take Isaac back to the zoo.”

 

“Hey, can’t I come to Laura’s house too?”

 

“No,” Derek says gruffly, making Isaac pout in the passenger seat.

 

Talia laughs and Derek smiles smugly at Isaac.

 

*******

After dropping Isaac off at the zoo so he could pick up his car, Derek drives to Laura’s house. As he drives, a thought occurs to him.

 

“Hey, Talia, who was that girl beside you and Alicia?”

 

“Oh, I can’t believe I forgot!” Talia says. “That’s my new friend Kira! She’s really nice and she likes to sing songs and she likes to read and she likes to draw, and she has pretty skin. I think she’s gonna be one of my best friends. Like, the forever type.”

 

Derek chuckles and his face breaks into a huge smile. “That’s great, honey. I’m glad you’re making friends.”

 

Talia smiles and wiggles in her seat. “Hey daddy?” she asks.

 

“Yeah, sweetie?”

 

“Are Alicia’s parents your forever type friends?”

 

Derek smiles fondly and looks at the rear view mirror to see his daughter. “Yes, they are.”

 

“Did you meet them when you were little, like me?”

 

“No, I didn’t meet them until I was teenager. In high school.”

 

Talia nods and seems satisfied with his answer. Derek, however, can’t stop thinking about it now.

 

Derek had literally meet Boyd and Erica at exactly the right moment. When he was fifteen, Derek’s parents died in a house fire. The hot water heater—of all things—had blown up. His uncle Peter had barely escaped with his life. Derek, Laura, and Cora had been at school at the time. Getting the news in the middle of the day, during lunch . . . it was too much. They were suddenly orphans.

 

They ended up living with their godfather, Alan Deaton, who is actually the veterinarian at the zoo Derek now works at. Alan was—still is—supportive of them, even when Derek hated everyone in the world. Every day after his parents’ death was a mockery to him. People telling him that it would get better, that he would move on, that he would smile again . . . it all felt false. Like they were stepping on his pain, laughing at his stagnancy. Everything just felt so . . . heavy. And never ending.

 

Just when Derek felt like he was going to die under the weight of this, he bumped into a blonde haired girl with huge brown eyes and an invasive stare on her face. Well, actually, she’d ran directly into him. It was only when he tried to walk around her and she literally wouldn’t move that he realized that she was in a couple of classes with him. He couldn’t figure out how he’d miss someone like her.

 

“You wanna ditch Cal?” she’d asked bluntly.

 

Derek had been taken aback. Here was some girl that he barely recognized and never talked to asking him to ditch class with her?

 

She must’ve read his mind, because after a moment she said, “I figured you wouldn’t want to be in class full of people that still look at you like they pity you.”

 

That had actually been exactly how Derek was feeling. How did she know that?

 

“I used to have seizures a lot. They’re under pretty tight control now, but they weren’t a year ago,” the girl had said. “It’s not the same, I know, but people used to give me that look too. That ‘I pity that poor outcast’ look. I hated it. So I figured you’d hate it even more. Plus my boyfriend Boyd is in your Chemistry class and he says that you literally look like you hate everyone in that room. We figured you’d want some time away.”

 

Not knowing what to say or even think, Derek had nodded. The girl had smiled, grabbed his wrist, and started to lead him out of the school’s side door. Once outside, Derek saw a very tall, dark-skinned Black guy leaning against a car. He recognized him as the smartest person in his Chemistry class. The guy smiled at Derek as they neared.

 

“Oh,” the girl suddenly said as she whipped around to face Derek, “I’m Erica by the way.”

 

Derek blinks out of the memory just as he pulls up to Laura’s house. Laura’s standing outside actually, as if she already knew they were coming. Talia, excited as ever, unbuckles her seat belt, hops out of the car, and jumps into her aunt’s arms. Derek looks at the pair for a moment, sighs contently, and gets out of the car.

*****

“And then Mr. McCall asked us to draw our favorite foods and I drew a picture of your chocolate cake because that’s my favorite!”

 

Laura laughs and hugs Talia tightly, wiggling her eyes at Derek in the process. Derek rolls his eyes and leans back in his chair. Of course Talia’s favorite food is her aunt’s chocolate cake.

 

“Thanks, Laura. The never-ending War on Vegetables has only gotten worse thanks to your cakes,” Derek says wryly.

 

Talia pulls a face at the word “vegetable” and Laura flips her hair and sits up proudly.

 

“Any time, little brother. It’s a part of my duties as an aunt!”

 

Derek gives his sister a dry look. “Yeah, just like how helping Braeden buy Talia five of the same dress was a part of your duties, too, huh?”

 

“That dress was adorable and we felt that Talia needed one in every color!” Laura says defensively as Talia laughs at them.

 

Talia’s eyebrows shot up and her eyes widen as she sits up and turns to look at Derek. “Daddy, I’m going over to Mommy’s house this weekend, right??”

 

“Of course, sweetie,” Derek says. Talia smiles and snuggles up against Laura’s side once again.

 

There’s a knock on the door and when Derek opens it, Cora slides into the room with a mischievous look on her face.

 

“So I heard _someone_ had the best first day of school ever?”

 

“Auntie Cora!” Talia hops off of Laura’s couch and crashes into Cora. Cora hugs Talia tightly and kisses her on the cheek.

 

“Did you also hear that she has the best teacher ever?” Laura asks, clearly egging Cora onto something.

 

Cora raises an eyebrow first at Talia then at Derek. “I think I _might_ have heard something about this teacher. What’s he like, Talia?”

 

And as Talia describes Scott in as much detail as possible, Derek can’t help but notice the look Laura is giving him.

 

“What?” he mouths silently. Laura just smirks and cocks an eyebrow at him.

 

“Hey, Talia, you wanna help me draw the new maps for the zoo?” Cora asks Talia.

 

Cora doesn’t work _in_ the zoo with Derek, but she did recently sign a contract with the zoo to draw all of the new maps to go on the signs and in the tour guides. So most of her time has been spent either at the zoo or at Derek’s house. Lately she’s been letting Talia help her with the maps, partially as a way of keeping Talia occupied, but mostly as a way of spending time with her.

 

Talia nods happily and trails after Cora into the dining room.

 

Laura immediately hops off of the couch and onto the arm of Derek’s chair.

 

“Soooo, Derek,” she starts and Derek glares at her. “How’s Braeden been lately?”

 

“Oh,” Derek says in surprise, blinking. “Um, uh, she’s well.”

 

“She still with Allison? They doing okay?”

 

“Um, yes, she and Allison are still together.”

 

While not talking about Scott was good, talking about Braeden was its own type of awkward. Derek met Braeden when he was nineteen and backed into a corner by a bear after getting stuck in the bear’s cage.  Braeden had come with a team of animal control. She’d literally burst into the cage, sedated the bear, and helped Derek off of the ground in under 2 minutes. When she’d whipped her head around and looked at him through narrowed eyes, Derek had been too shocked to even say, “Thank you,” until she smiled at him. And of course, they’d started dating. By the time they were both twenty, they were married. By the time they were both twenty-one, Talia was born.

 

Their relationship was _not_ a bad one, by any means. It was actually pretty good.  But eventually they fizzled out. They divorced when Talia was three.  It wasn’t malicious or even painful; it just felt like something that needed to happen.

 

About a year after they divorced, Braeden started dating Allison Argent, whom she met at a martial arts class, of all places. She was intense and had shooting skills that made him want to _never_ be on her bad side. But she was kind, and Allison and Braeden loved each other just as much they challenged one another. And Allison _adored_ Talia. So while it was a little bit awkward sometimes, really it was one of the few things that’d actually worked out in Derek’s life.

 

Laura smiles down at him and nods. “Good to hear. How’s Isaac? I remember Tally mentioning that he came with you to pick her up.”

 

“Um, Isaac is doing fine. Still a sarcastic little dweeb, but he’s doing fine.” Derek just _knows_ that this conversation is going to go to hell soon. I mean, this is Laura we’re talking about. Laura’s been specializing in embarrassing Derek since her five year old self peered into his crib.

 

“Why didn’t he come over to say hi?” Laura asks innocently.

 

“Because I told him ‘No?’”

 

Laura nods with thoughtfulness. “Oh, okay.”

 

The hell is coming, Derek knows. It’s coming in 3 . . . 2 . . .

 

“So when you gonna ask Mr. McCutie out?”

 

 _There it is_.

 

“Today was the _first day of school!_ ” Derek cries in exasperation.

 

“And you _already_ have hearts in your eyes when someone mentions Tally’s teacher!” Laura teases mercilessly. “I saw it when Talia was telling Cora about him! _You’re_ in love with her _teacher_! Ha!”

 

“Really? You’re doing this right now? This is happening?” Derek asks flatly, making his face as dead as possible. “Are you twelve again, Laura?”

 

Laura rolls her eyes and pokes her tongue out at him. She jumps off of the arm of his chair and stands in front of him, crossing her arms and giving him the smuggest look humanly possible.

 

“Just admit it, Derek. You _liiiiike_ him!”

 

“I met him for like fifteen minutes today!”

 

“And you _already like him!_ ”

 

“I don’t know anything about him other than the fact that he’s my daughter’s kindergarten teacher!”

 

“And yet . . .”

 

“Don’t—”

 

“ _You already like him!_ ”

 

Derek groans loudly and lets his head hit the wall behind him. Apparently, Cora and Talia hear the thud.

 

“Daddy! You okay? Is auntie Laura making you make the Grumpy Cat face?” Talia asks from the other room.

 

The sound of cackling coming from Laura and Cora fills his skull and all he can do is sit in the chair, glare into the space and wonder how this became his life.

******

The rest of the week goes pretty well. The zoo runs smoothly, Isaac doesn’t lovingly tap dance on his nerves as often, and Talia thoroughly enjoys her first week of school.  Derek picks her up every day and manages to not be an awkward mess in front of Scott. A couple of times, Scott stops Derek and they make small. Scott’ll ask about the zoo or Isaac and it’s perfectly normal and fine and Derek’s making it as non-weird as possible, thank you very much.

 

On Saturday morning, Derek takes a bouncing Talia over to her mother’s house. Talia has her favorite stuffed animal, an obscenely large coloring book, and all the drawings she did in class this week in tow.  Derek has a sense of suspicion and the thought that Braeden is going to ask at least five questions to embarrass him before he leaves in mind as he pulls into Braeden's driveway.

 

Talia skips and hops to the front door and rings the doorbell. She bounces up and down on the balls of her feet and smiles harmoniously at Derek. Derek’s suspicions increase.

 

The door opens and Allison’s dimpled smile greets them elatedly. Derek wills his suspicion to stay strong and not wither. It’s hard to be suspicious of a woman that looks like an actual Disney princess, even when he’s certain that this same woman could probably kick his ass and the asses of everyone he knows.

 

“Hey guys!” Allison says cheerfully, automatically reaching down to hug Talia.

 

“Allie!” Talia runs into Allison’s open arms and squeezes her tightly. It’d be cute if Derek wasn’t certain that he’s going to regret this.

 

“Is that my baby outside?” Braeden asks playfully from inside of the house.

 

“MOMMY!” Talia screams and rushes inside of the house to jump on Braeden.

 

Allison straightens up, smiles, and says all too happily, “Hi, Derek!” before leading him into the house.

 

Braeden already has Talia in her lap and Talia is showing her all of the drawings she made in class this week. Braeden’s smile is taking up most of her face and it’s almost a little eerie to look them together. Talia looks so much like Braeden. They even make the same faces at Derek sometimes.

 

“Daddy, Mommy says that her favorite picture is the one of the chocolate cake!” Talia tells Derek triumphantly.

 

“I am somehow not surprised,” Derek says tonelessly.

 

“Aw, come on, Derek. Who doesn’t love chocolate cake?” Braeden asks innocently.

 

“A dad with a daughter who has decided to start a war against spinach.”

 

“Spinach is _evil_!” Talia cries passionately.

 

“Tally, sweetie, spinach isn’t evil. It’s just not as good-tasting as chocolate,” Braeden tells her soothingly.

 

“That’s why it’s evil,” Talia mumbles, sinking into her mother’s arms.

 

“Speaking of food,” Allison suddenly pipes up, “I was just about to start making lunch! Derek, why don’t you stay?”

 

“Wait, what?” Derek asks dumbly.

 

“Yeeeaaah, Daddy, stay!” Talia’s face is one of gleeful plotting and Derek is not prepared.

 

“Um…okay?”

 

“Good! Come on, Tally. While Allison’s making lunch, you can show me some more drawings!”

 

Braeden takes Talia in the other room. Allison looks at Derek with pleasant expectation.

 

“You okay with hotdogs?” Allison asks nicely.

 

“Um, sure, yeah,” Derek says.

 

Allison goes to put the hotdogs into the oven and takes out buns and condiments. Derek walks into the kitchen and takes a seat at the island. Once Allison has everything in place, she walks over and takes a seat next to Derek.

 

“So how’ve you been?”

 

“What are you up to?” Derek asks instantly.

 

Allison laughs and dimples at him. “Nothing! I was just asking about you!”

 

“Allison, tell me now—is this about Scott?”

 

Allison looks at him for a moment, then she smiles guiltily and ducks her head.

 

“Yeaaaahhh…”

 

“ _Allison!_ ” Derek says in exasperation, throwing his head back dramatically. He knows he looks ridiculous but quite frankly he doesn’t care.

 

“I can’t help it! I think your crush is adorable and I want to help!”

 

“You did _not_ just say that,” Derek said, staring at Allison has if she’d just cursed him.

 

Allison laughed again and put her hand on her chin. “Well, what would you like me to call it, Derek? Your infatuation?”

 

“Why are you even involved in this?” Derek questions desperately.

 

Allison smiles slyly and answers, “You know, I actually know Scott.”

 

“You know Scott?” Derek asks incredulously, but then he thinks about it and _of course_ Allison knows Scott.  1000 watt smiles and giving the appearance of being so sweet that they could give you a cavity? Why _wouldn’t_ they know each other?

 

“I actually dated Scott in high school,” Allison says nonchalantly.

 

“You _dated_ Scott?”

 

“Yep. He’s a real sweetheart, you know,” Allison continues as if nothing matters.

 

Derek keeps his face as neutral as possible. This doesn’t matter anyway because he _was not planning on dating Scott._ Why does everybody insist on doing this time?

 

“You should ask him out sometime,” Allison says simply.

 

Derek levels Allison with the Bitchface and she smiles at him.

 

“You should!” she insists. “I think you two would be great together!”

 

Derek shakes his in head in confusion. “This is weird. This is not normal. This is all very strange to me.”

 

“What is? Having a crush on someone or me telling you to ask your crush out?” Allison inquires like she already knows this answer.

 

Derek, however, has to think for a moment. “Um . . . both, actually. Both of those things are very weird to me.”

 

Allison smiles warmly and goes to take the hot dogs out of the oven, leaving Derek to sit there in his confusion. And his embarrassment at the fact that he’s so damn obvious that literally _everybody around him_ is taunting him about. Then a thought occurs to him: _what if Scott could see it_? Derek blanches and his eyes get wide. Oh, this is going to be so weird and awkward from now on, isn’t it?

 

Just as Derek’s horror descends upon him, Braeden saunters into the room.

 

“Wash up, Tally, our lunch is about to be ready!” she calls behind.

 

“Okay!” Talia calls back and she sounds like she’s occupied with something? Something that’s probably going to drive Derek up the wall when they get home.

 

“So,” Braeden says, suddenly lowering her voice and leaning on the island, “are you gonna ask Scott out or what?”

 

“Could you guys _hear_ our conversation??” Derek recoils in actual fear.

 

“Oh, no, we couldn’t. Allie and I just talked about it before you got here,” Braeden says nonchalantly.

 

“Okay, no I can’t do this,” Derek says. “I have _never_ had an _ex_ and their new partner try to set me up with someone!”

 

“That’s because you never stayed friends with an ex before,” Braeden says. “You and I are friends, and I want you to be happy.”

 

Well that’s…actually very nice? So nice that it’s confusing and suspicious to him?

 

“Thank you?”

 

“Plus Talia called yesterday and asked me if I would help you marry Scott.”

 

“ _What?!?!”_

“Yeah,” Allison adds happily. “She asked to me to talk to you. Talia _really_ wants you two to be together. She feels that it’s the best thing for the family.”

 

Derek looks at Allison and Braeden in turn, and promptly falls out of his chair, causing a loud thud.

 

“Did Daddy fall on the floor again???” Talia yells from the other room.

 

Braeden laughs hysterically, Allison chuckles and shakes her head, and Derek makes a very loud groaning sound from his spot on the floor.

*****

The next few weeks fly by. Before Derek knows it, the first month of school has gone by and it’s late September. Talia was right about Kira—she very quickly becomes Talia’s and Alicia’s new best friend.  The three even have a sleepover at Boyd’s and Erica’s, during which Kira makes a paper flower crown for Erica to wear on her head.  

 

Derek picks Talia up almost every day (except for a couple of Fridays when he was working too late to get her. Then Braeden picks her up and officially meets Scott, which was absolutely terrifying to say the least.) Each time Derek picks Talia up, he and Scott talk a little bit more. Eventually, Derek ends up telling Scott about Cora and Laura, while Scott ends up telling Derek about his best friend Stiles.  And Talia stands by patiently while they talking, smiling a smile that means that she’s up to no good.

 

Pretty soon, it’s parent-teacher conference time. And of course Derek is nervous for reasons that have nothing to do with Talia. Derek has this insane fear that if he actually sits down and talks with Scott more than a minute, his crush will be revealed and he’ll have to go live in a hole in the ground. Derek knows that this is a ridiculous notion, but there it is. Derek almost doesn’t want to go, but it’s for Talia.

 

“What’re you gonna talk about?” Talia pointedly asks the night of the parent-teacher conferences.

 

“We’re going to talk about how you’re doing in school. We’re going to talk about your classwork and how you’ve behaving with the other kids. _That’s it_ ,” Derek answers adamantly.

 

Talia cocks her head back and flares at nostrils at Derek. “Ooookay,” she says unbelievingly before sashaying over by the door to wait for Derek.

 

Derek rolls his eyes, but his words linger in his mind. He’s going to try to be as normal as possible during this meeting.

 

On the way to the school, Talia sings some garbled song about true love and kindergarten classes.  While she’s singing, she’ll occasionally shoot Derek a look. Derek keeps driving, determined to _not_ engage. He also wonders how sad his life must seem for his five year-old daughter to be making marriage plans for him, but that’ll be another conversation for another day.

 

Derek pulls up to the school and parks. As she unbuckles her seatbelt, she looks up at the school curiously and tilts her head.

 

“What’s wrong, sweetie?” Derek asks in concern.

 

“This place looks scary at nighttime,” she answers, still staring at the lights coming from the school. “It looks weird! Don’t the teachers get scared in there?”

 

Derek laughs, gets out, and opens the door for her. “I think the teachers are pretty brave.” Talia smiles up at him and takes his hand.

 

They’re the first ones from her class to arrive.  As they walk in, Talia immediately rushes to the back, where she apparently keeps a stash of her favorite classroom toys.  As Derek turns around to go sit in front of Scott’s desk, he sees that Scott is standing in the corner, talking on the phone.

 

“Are you sure you’re doing okay?” Derek hears Scott ask quietly.  He’s quiet for a moment. “Okay. I was just checking on you. Do you need me to bring you anything? Oh, okay. Well, have a nice shift. I’ll call you later. Love you, bye.”

 

Scott hangs up, but he still has a worried look on his face. Derek frowns and walks closer before he can stop himself.

 

“Hey, is everything okay?” Derek asks.

 

Scott kind of startles and blinks rapidly as he turns to look at Derek. After a moment, he smiles (weakly) and nods a couple of times.

 

“Um, yeah, yeah, it’s fine. I was just talking to my mom. That’s all,” Scott says. But he doesn’t really sound okay and that bothers Derek way too much for him to let it go.

 

“Are you sure?” Derek asks hesitantly, not wanting to push Scott into telling him anything.

 

Scott sits down at his desk and nods. Derek pulls the chair closer to the desk and looks at Scott steadily.

 

“Your mom’s a nurse, right?” Derek asks. “She works at the hospital?”

 

Scott kind of lights up and nods, “Yeah, you remembered.”

 

About a week ago, during one of their little conversations while Derek picked Talia up, he and Scott somehow started talking about other jobs they thought were cool. During the conversation, Scott had mentioned that his mother became a nurse a little while after he was born. It was a nice conversation and some interesting information about Scott; it wasn’t as if Derek had thought about that conversation almost every night since then or anything like that.

 

“Have her shifts been a little rough?” Derek asks gently.

 

Scott looks at him for a moment, then sighs, as if he’s relieved by the question. He kind of deflates a little and rolls his eyes. Not at Derek, but at whatever is going through his head right now.

 

“My mom recently had a patient that kicked her in the stomach and tried to escape this hospital,” Scott admits with a stressed look on his face. Scott kind of laughs and continues, “I think I caused even more chaos by bursting into the hospital and staying there for the rest of her shift. Ever since then, I’ve been calling at her ever so often. She keeps telling me that’s everything’s fine, but everything was fine the night that happened . . . I don’t know, I just get worried.” Scott kind of slumps back in his chair a little bit and Derek wants to find whoever that guy was and punch him repeatedly.

 

“I understand,” Derek says, because he really does. Derek was always a bit of a worry-ward, but it got so much worse after his parents died. “And it’s really sweet of you to check on her.”

 

Scott smiles slightly. “Thanks,” he says. Then he suddenly sits up and blinks rapidly. “Oh, wow, I’m really wasting your time right now. You came here to talk about Talia, not about me.”

 

“Oh, no, it’s fine, I promise!” Derek says before he can think better of it. “I like talking about you,” and wow, did Derek _really_ just say that out loud?? Derek internally kicks himself about fifteen times.

 

Scott looks surprised, but then he looks flattered and smiles shyly. “Um, thanks.”

 

If Derek doesn’t say anything, the awkwardness will go away on its own. At least, that’s what he hopes as he smiles in response. It actually works. Scott sits up and starts to tell Derek about how well Talia’s been doing, how friendly she is with the other kids, and how quickly she’s accelerating.

 

“She’s at the top of this class. I was actually thinking that she should be in the gifted program,” Scott says happily.

 

Derek can’t help the proud smile that spreads across his face. “Talia’s always been very smart and she likes to learn. It helps her develop methods of getting into trouble,” he deadpans.

 

“Heeeeey! I heard that!” Talia yells from the back of the room, pouting fiercely.

 

“It’s not polite to eavesdrop, Tally,” Derek tells her and Scott cracks up.

 

Before Derek would like, the meeting is over, and he and Scott are standing. Derek looks back to see Talia very carefully placing her favorite toys in a strangely specific spot in the back of the room and he raises an eyebrow at Scott. Scott looks over at Talia and shrugs.

 

“She made that spot on the second day. It hasn’t caused any problems with the kids so far,” he says simply.

 

“My daughter,” Derek says with a happy sigh. “Come one, Talia, time to go!”

 

After giving one last look at her stash, Talia rushes to Derek and stands in between him and Scott. Derek and Scott both look at one another again and then down at Talia.

 

“What?” she asks, blinking at them both. “Kira’s favorite doll is in that pile. I wanna make sure it doesn’t get lost.”

 

Derek and Scott both smile and start laughing as they walk out of the door. Right outside of the door is Boyd, Erica, and Alicia, who immediately gets excited at the sight of Talia. Talia rushes to her best friend and hugs her tightly.

 

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Erica says. “I wish _my_ best friend was that nice,” she adds, blinking innocently at Boyd.

 

Boyd looks at Erica and rolls his eyes affectionately. “Can we please just talk about our daughter? I want to make sure she’s not acting like _you_ or anything.”

 

Scott and Derek both laugh and Erica feigns offense and pouts. 

 

“If you all should _be_ so lucky!” Erica says, rubbing Alicia’s hair as she says it.

 

Alicia, who had been having an intense conversation with Talia, suddenly turns around with a bright idea showing on her face.

 

“Hey, Daddy, your birthday is soon, right?” Alicia inquires.

 

“ _Yes_ ,” Boyd answers suspiciously, looking at Alicia out of the side of his eye.

 

“And you and Mommy are gonna hang out with Mr. Talia’s Dad, right?” Alicia continues.

 

Boyd looks at Derek and then at Erica and then back at his daughter, narrowing his eyes.

 

“ _Maybe_ ,” he answers.

 

“Daddy! ‘Maybe’ is not a good answer!” Alicia says, giggling and hooking her fingers together.

 

“Well, yes I was. That’s why you were going to stay with her grandma for the night, remember?” Boyd answers, giving his daughter evaluative look.

 

Alicia giggles again. “Yes, I remember. And Tally’s gonna stay with her auntie.”

 

For Boyd’s upcoming birthday, despite Erica’s suggestion of a huge party with strippers (which would probably be more entertaining to _her_ than him), Boyd wanted he, Erica, Derek, Isaac, Cora, and Braeden and Allison to just come over and relax. Laura volunteered (actually demanded) to babysit Talia and Alicia was going to stay with Boyd’s mother. At least, that’s what they’d originally planned.

 

“Alicia,” Boyd asks slowly, “what are you up to?”

 

“Weeeellll,” Alicia drags as sweetly as possible, “I was just thinking that you could ask Mr. McCall to come too!”

 

Derek really prays that his sudden nervousness isn’t showing on his face. Derek looks over to Scott and is somewhat relieved to see that Scott is _not_ trying to hide his surprise and nervousness. Scott instantly blushes and starts to stammer.

 

“Um, well, I don’t know if I should—”

 

“Why not?” Alicia asks, eyes wide and imploring. “You guys like each other. You could have fun!”

 

Derek sometimes is _very_ concern about how Talia might be influencing her friends. Because he’s pretty sure that Alicia didn’t know how to manipulate people until she and Talia started hanging out every day.

 

Scott’s about protest some more, when Boyd’s face suddenly changes to a thoughtful look.

 

“Actually,” Boyd says, “I wouldn’t mind that. If, of course, you feel comfortable with that.”

 

Wait, what? What’s happening? Derek glances back and forth between Boyd and Scott, and he’s starting to feel a little lightheaded and winded.

 

Scott swallows, blinks, and smiles slowly. “Um, yeah, actually. That’d be great.”

 

Boyd smiles warmly, Erica smirks deviously, and Alicia and Talia wearing matching beams. Derek’s mind is still so confused.

 

“The party’s in two weeks, at our place,” Erica supplies. “You don’t have bring anything. Just your face!”

 

Scott laughs nervously and nods. “Okay. Um, I guess we should start our conference now?”

 

Alicia nods rapidly, hair flying wildly. “Oh, yeah! Let’s go! Byeeee Tally!” Alicia grabs both of her parents’ hands and walks into the classroom behind Scott.

 

Talia grabs Derek’s hand and starts to walk him out of the school.

 

“Byeee Alicia!” she calls triumphantly, smiling up at Derek.

 

She is _so_ on punishment.

****

The next day, Talia (who is actually _not_ on punishment because Derek is an actual teddy bear deep within his heart and she’s gotten _really_ good at looking sad at him) goes over to Braeden’s. Derek decides to spend the day running boring errands and, for some masochistic reason, decides to bring Isaac with him.

 

They’re walking to a store, talking about the side-eye Deaton gave a couple of parents yesterday during a school’s tour of the zoo, when they run into none other than Scott. Scott has another person with him; a man who looks even younger than both Scott _and_ Isaac, with dark hair, dark eyes, and moles on the side of his face and neck. The guy looks either excited or agitated—Derek can’t really tell. The guy is also staring at Isaac, which Derek can very much tell. And Isaac is staring right back at him. For a moment, Scott and Derek just kind of watch them watch each other.

 

“So, um, hi!” Scott says brightly, causing Derek to tear his eyes away from Isaac and the guy. “What’s up?”

 

“Um, I was just running errands with Isaac today, since, you know, Talia’s at her mother’s,” Derek says. Yeah, that was something else he ended up telling Scott about. But in his defense, Scott was going to find out anyway! Braeden _did_ pick Talia up from school some Fridays.

 

Scott nods and takes another glance at Isaac and Scott’s friend. This time, his face falls into a confused look that is definitely _not_ adorable.  Derek looks over at them too and almost laughs at the inquisitive yet _annoyed_ look on Isaac’s face.

 

“So, uh, this is my best friend Stiles,” Scott finally says, gesturing to the guy. “Stiles, this is Derek Hale. He’s Talia’s father.”

 

The guy—Stiles—suddenly shakes his head and opens his eyes wide. And then looks at Derek, smirks, and raises an eyebrow.

 

“Ooooh, _you’re_ Derek!” Stiles says. “Oh, okay, I see. Hi. Scott loves your kid. And your--”

 

“And this is Derek’s brother Isaac!” Scott rushes out, staring at Stiles like he wants to kick him.

 

“Um, actually, Isaac is not my biological brother. Talia just calls him ‘Uncle’ because . . . well, I actually don’t know why she calls him that,” Derek manages to say even he’s currently trying to figure out what exactly Stiles was about to say.

 

Isaac suddenly comes back to reality and looks at Derek sharply.  “Tally calls me that because I’m great and she loves me.”

 

Derek rolls his eyes harder than usual and Scott chuckles. Stiles shoots Isaac a look that turns into a somewhat invasive stare.

 

“Why are you wearing a _scarf?_ It’s not cold out!” Stiles demands, eyeing the light scarf around Isaac’s neck.

 

“Well, wearing a light scarf is actually quite fashionable,” Isaac says condescendingly. “And I prefer to dress like fashionable adult as opposed to looking like a broke college student,” he adds in the most judgmental tone he can muster.

 

Stiles glares at him and then down at his own clothes. “What’s that supposed to mean? At least my clothes don’t scream ‘Prissy little snob!’”

 

This time, Scott rolls his eyes at Stiles harder than Derek would’ve ever imagined Scott. Derek tries not to fixate on it and instead entertains himself by listening to Isaac’s spat with Stiles.

 

“Maybe not,” Isaac counters, “but at least _mine_ don’t scream, ‘Broke frat guy probably mooching off his friend with an actual _job!_ ’”

 

“I’ll have you know that I’m a very successful web developer!” Stiles yells at Isaac’s smirking face.

 

“So, you’re basically using the fact that you’re a nerd as an excuse to dress like that?”

 

“Don’t you spend most of your day playing in dirty in animal cages??”

 

“Not so much anymore, but at least I have nice clothes to change into when I _do_  get dirty.”

 

“You know what—”

 

As Stiles and Isaac get into their epic argument, Scott and Derek stare at them for a moment. Then they look at each other, and, without having to say a word, simultaneously take a huge step to the left, _away_ from their bickering friends.

 

“So _anyway_ ,” Derek continues, “what’ve you been up to, today?”

 

“Same thing. Running errands, decided that I didn’t want to do them alone, so I brought Stiles with me.” Scott glances over at Stiles again, whose snarkfest with Isaac has intensified. “Although, this is not what I expected when I called him.”

 

“Yeah, me neither,” Derek says with a smile. “How’s your mom?”

 

“She’s doing well. She had a very light shift last night. I guess people decided to not crash into anything or anyone last night,” Scott replies happily. “How is Talia’s mom, actually?”

 

“Oh, you know, she’s doing well. Teaching my daughter how to manipulate me and helping her learn how to destroy the world. The usual.”

 

Scott laughs and that 1000 watt smile makes an appearance. “Aw, lighten up on Talia! She’s an amazing kid.”

 

“See? She has you _completely_ hypnotized!”

 

Scott laughs even louder and gets a little closer to Derek. “Oh come on! And besides, she probably learned how to hypnotize people from you.”

 

“Wait, from _me?_ ” Derek asks, fighting the smile coming on his face. “How would she learn that from me?”

 

Scott looks at Derek with a slightly dazed but content look on his face. “You’re pretty . . . fascinating, Derek,” Scott says a little faintly. Scott then blinks and his mouth falls open. “I mean, you guys are. Your family is. Not in a ‘study you guys like animals’ way or anything? Just, you’re pretty . . . interesting, that’s all.”

 

“Thanks,” Derek answers, hoping to God that he isn’t blushing like the middle-schooler he feels like right now.

 

“So,” Scott says breathily, blinking again and swallowing, “am I still invited to the party?”

 

“Of course,” Derek answers. “I mean, unless Erica’s scared you away.”

 

Stiles suddenly turns away from Isaac—whom he had _still_ been bickering with?—and looks at Scott and Derek with interest.

 

“Whoa, wait, I heard party? There’s a party? Is Stiles invited to this party?” he asks with the most animated face Derek has ever seen on anyone. His eyes are wide, his eyebrows are near his hairline, nostrils flared, and he’s leaning very close to Scott.

 

“Stiles, you don’t know who the party is for. How could you be invited?” Scott asks good-naturedly. Scott says it as if he knows that the question was not the best question, but he’s not going to make Stiles feel bad about it.

 

“And plus the party is for actual _adults_ ,” Isaac adds arrogantly.

 

“You _play in dirt!_ ”

 

“And yet I’m _still_ better looking than you.”

 

“Gah!” Stiles yells, flinging his arms into the air. “Scott, are you ready to go? I can’t stay around _him_ for much longer.”

 

Scott looks at Derek with an apologetic look. “Guess I’ll see you at the party?”

 

“Of course!” Derek answers.

 

Stiles grabs Scott’s arm and starts to walk off with him.

 

“Oh, um, see you later!” Scott calls back hurriedly, throwing a smile Derek’s way.

 

“See you!” Derek calls back, laughing at the struggling scene in front of him. Pretty soon, Scott and Stiles are out of his line of sight. Derek looks at the spot for a moment, replaying Scott’s smile in his mind.

 

“Ugh, could you believe that guy?” Isaac says, interrupting Derek’s thoughts. “He was such a dweeb. So annoying and—”

 

“You’re gonna ask him out in like three weeks,” Derek cuts in, giving Isaac the driest look possible.

 

Isaac gapes and looks offended, but Derek can totally see through it.

 

“You should really learn how to flirt with people without insulting them,” Derek offers.

 

Isaac glares at him and adjusts his scarf. “ _You_ should learn how to flirt with people without being so obvious about it!”

 

Derek looks at Isaac for a moment. Then he reaches over, unwraps Isaac’s carefully wrapped scarf, and walks off quickly.

*****

Two weeks, several more afternoon pick-up conversations, and 1550 replays of each of those conversations later, Boyd’s birthday—and the birthday party—arrive. As Derek gets ready, Talia bounces up and down on his bed.

 

“Are you gonna talk to Mr. McCall? You _have_ to talk to Mr. McCall because he doesn’t know everything so you have to talk to him!” Talia says as she bounces.

 

“Yes, I’m going to talk to Sc—Mr. McCall,” Derek answers, rolling his eyes and smiling as he looks at his hair in the mirror.

 

“Is Mr. McCall going to meet Allison?”

 

“Mr. McCall already _knows_ Allison.”

 

“ _Really?!”_ Talia gasps and looks at Derek as if he betrayed her, all while still bouncing on the bed. “Why didn’t you say anything?!”

 

“I didn’t think it mattered?” Derek answers, watching his daughter through the mirror.

 

“Yes it _does_ , Daddy!” Talia bounces even higher as she says this. “Are you and Mr. McCall going to dance with Mommy and Allison?!”

 

Derek sighs and turns to his daughter, grabbing her shoulders and making her settling her down.  Talia blinks up at him curiously and smiles sweetly.

 

“Are you and Mr. McCall going to be best friends after tonight?” Talia asks eagerly.

 

Derek sighs good-humoredly and kneels down to meet Talia’s eye-level. “Why are you _so_ concerned with me and Mr. McCall being friends?”

 

“Because I think that you two would be the best forever-type friends and that you would be happy,” Talia admits quietly.

 

“And that’s really sweet of you,” Derek says genuinely. “But don’t worry about it so much. Don’t I seem happy to you?”

 

Talia deflates and a small frown tugs at her lips. “Well, _yeah_ , but I think you and Mr. McCall would be like, super happy together. Like Mommy is _happy_ by herself but she’s super happy with Allison!”

 

“Well, thank you, Tally, but I’m fine,” Derek reassures her. “Come on, let’s get you over to Auntie Laura’s.”

 

Talia perks up and jumps off the bed and gets ready in a whirlwind.  As they drive to Laura’s house, Talia, who had been quietly looking out of the window, suddenly perks up and looks at Derek.

 

“Hey, Daddy?” she asks.

 

“Yeah, honey?”

 

“Even though you’re already happy, if Mr. McCall _asked_ you to be his forever type friend, would you?”

 

Derek looks in the rear view mirror and thinks for a moment.

 

“Well . . . yeah, I think so,” he answers honestly.

 

Talia smiles a small smile and leans back into her seat again.

*****

The door to Boyd and Erica’s house opens before Derek even rang the doorbell. In the doorway stands Boyd, with a beer in hand, a large and colorful party hat on his head, and the number “27” written on his left cheek in pink glitter.

 

“Happy Birthday,” Derek says in an incredulous laugh.

 

Boyd grins broadly and steps aside to let him in. Inside are Braeden, Allison, Erica, Isaac, Cora, and Cora’s stunningly beautiful and sufficiently terrifying girlfriend Lydia, who works with Boyd in a bio lab just outside of Beacon Hills. Amazingly, they are all  pretty drunk. Braden and Erica are booty-bumping, Allison and Lydia are twirling each other and giggling, and Cora and Isaac are playing some strange arm-swatting game, which Isaac apparently loses when he turns to greet Derek. The lights are dim, loud music is playing, and Derek’s pretty sure that all of the women’s shoes are in a pile in the corner.

 

“Hey, Derek— _ow!_ No fair, that’s cheating!” Isaac slurs while Cora cracks up in laughter.

 

Derek is barely done taking in the scene when Boyd slings a huge arm around his shoulders and slides a beer into his hand.

 

“Have a drink, join the party,” Boyd advises with a loose smile.

 

“You do remember that people have to drive home tonight, right?” Derek asks, glancing between the beer in his hand and his drunk best friend.

 

“Cora and Lydia are going to stay in the guest room for the night and Isaac, Braeden and Allison all  live close enough to walk home,” Boyd says easily. “Plus I took everyone’s car keys off of their key rings when they first walked in. Which reminds me—hand them over!”

 

Derek slowly hands his car keys to Boyd and eyes him with an amused expression. Boyd puts his beer on the table beside him and begins fiddling with the keys.

 

“Aren’t you too drunk to do this now?” Derek asks as he watches.

 

“Nope,” Boyd says cheerfully as he successfully removes Derek car key from his key ring. Derek watches with mild surprise as Boyd opens a drawer and puts the key with the rest of the confiscated ones. Boyd then picks his beer back up, takes a huge chug, and nudges Derek. “Relax! Take a drink! No one’s going to embarrass you tonight, I promise.”

 

Derek side-eyes Boyd, smirks, and takes a swig of his beer. Out of the haze scurries Lydia, who grabs his hand and gives him a wily look.

 

“Come dance with us!” Lydia commands (nothing’s ever exactly a request with Lydia) and she pulls him into their Circle of Drunken Behavior.  

 

Derek dances with Cora, then Braeden, then Allison, then Erica, then Lydia, and then Isaac (who truly was the most interesting of all dancing partners). At one point, the doorbell rings again, and Erica hurries to opens.

 

“Well _hello_ ,” she purrs at the person at the door, Derek turns to see a nicely dressed and smiling Scott with a clearly excited Stiles behind him.

 

“I’m sorry I’m late,” Scott says happily, stepping through the threshold. “Oh, and I’m sorry that I brought Stiles.”

 

Everyone cracks up and Stiles tosses an offended look in Scott’s direction.

 

“ _Hey,_ is that seriously how you’re gonna introduce me to the group?”

 

“Yep,” Scott answers happily and everyone laughs again.

 

Stiles rolls his eyes at Scott and turns to introduce himself to Erica. “Hi, I’m Stiles.”

 

Cora leans around Lydia and yells, “Are you the Stiles that Isaac’s been ranting about for _weeks_ now?”

 

Stiles blinks and lifts his eyebrows. “Wait, what?”

 

Isaac, who had been giving Cora the “Shut the hell up” look, looks at him and gapes for a moment.

 

“I was ranting about how ridiculous you were,” Isaac says snidely.

 

“Yeah,” Lydia adds turning around to leer at Stiles, “ridiculously _cute!_ ”

 

Derek throws his head back in laughter at the mortified expression on Isaac’s face. Derek looks over to see Scott shaking with laughter.

 

“Hey, Scott!” Allison calls in a surprisingly clear voice considering how drunk she is. “Get over here!”

 

“Hey, Allison! Long time, no see!” Scott happily walks over and hugs Allison tightly. Then, of course, he beams up at Derek.

 

“Hey, Derek,” he says in a softer tone.

 

“Hey,” Cora says, stumbling in between Scott and Derek. “I’m Derek’s sister, Cora. And I think you should dance me now and flirt with Derek later!”

 

Before either Scott or Derek can respond, Cora pulls Scott in between Lydia and herself and suddenly the three are dancing. Derek laughs at them; they look pretty funny.  But Scott just fits right in without even trying. He just dances, as if it were natural to him. Derek takes a moment to look around the room again. Boyd and Erica are dancing blissfully, in their own worlds. Braeden and Allison are doing some type of tango, where they mostly just hold hands, spin around, and wiggle their eyebrows at each other. And Isaac, of course, has made his way over to Stiles.

Everything feels . . . right. They’re a weird group who have come together in weird ways, but tonight everything feels right.

 

At some point, Scott stops dancing with Cora and Lydia and trips his way over to Derek.

 

“Hi,” Scott says breathlessly, still laughing. “I’m a little winded.”

 

Derek laughs and then nods his head towards the door. “Let’s sit outside for a moment.”

 

Scott nods with a smile and starts to follow Derek out of the door.

 

“Where are _you two_ going?” Braeden asks saucily as Allison dips her.

 

“Away from you freaks!” Derek answers before stepping outside with Scott. He can still hear the catcalls as he closes the door.

 

“Oh no!” Scott says with vague concern. “Should I have left Stiles in there alone?”

 

Derek thinks back to when he saw Stiles and Isaac talking. “I think Stiles will be fine. He was talking to Isaac last I saw.”

 

“Oh, so he’s going to leave here with a date.”

 

“Probably,” Derek says with a roll of his eyes. “Anytime Isaac grumbles about someone _that_ much, he’s probably in love with them.”

 

“I wish you could have heard Stiles,” Scott says. “I’ve heard Isaac’s name more than I’ve heard my own. And I’m a kindergarten teacher! My students call my name _all the time!_ ”

 

Derek chuckles and sits down on the porch. Scott sits down next to him and smiles at nothing.  Derek looks over at Scott and feels that middle-school feeling again.

 

“I’m glad you came tonight, Scott,” Derek tells him.

 

Scott smiles somewhat shyly and looks Derek directly in the eye.

 

“I am too,” he says sincerely. “Everyone is pretty amazing. And I’m glad that I’m hanging out with you outside of school stuff.”

 

And Derek’s stomach does a twist as Scott smiles up at him.

 

“I am too,” Derek admits quietly.

 

Scott’s eyes roam all over Derek’s face for a moment, while Derek’s eyes stay on Scott’s. They’re deep brown, very kind-looking, and warm.  Derek starts to get so lost in Scott’s eyes that he doesn’t even notice it when Scott’s eyes seem to focus on Derek’s lips until they dart back up. A small smile tugs onto Derek’s lips and Scott blushes deeply.

 

“I just made things awkward, didn’t I?” Scott asks, cringing slightly.

 

Derek shakes his head. “Not at all,” he reassures.

 

Scott smiles and moves closer. And he eyes fall back down to Derek’s lips.

 

And then a very loud clicking sounds scares them. Scott jumps back and Derek begins to look around wildly. Finally, he looks into the window and sees the eyes of Lydia, Erica, and Braeden peeking at him and Scott.

 

“ _What are you guys doing?!_ ” Derek yells at them, startling all three.

 

“We’ve been seen!” Lydia hisses, and the three disappear from the window.

 

“You are all awful people!” Derek yells at the retreating figures. 

 

Scott’s blushing again and he’s watching Derek yell at them. Then he laughs a little shakily.

 

“I think I love your friends,” Scott says.

 

“At least _someone_ does,” Derek grumbles.

 

Scott stands up and offers Derek his hand. “Let’s go back in,” he suggests, still with a small smile on his face.

 

Derek, contemplating all the ways he could get them back for this, takes Scott’s hand and follows him back into the house.

*****

After a while, everything starts to wind down and people start to sober up. Scott and Stiles very pleasantly agrees to give Braeden and Allison a ride home while Derek, still in an oddly good mood (even after he’d glared at Lydia, Braeden, and Erica for twenty minutes), agrees to give Isaac ride home.

 

As they file out of the house, Allison waves at Derek, Braeden blows him a kiss, and Stiles winks at him. Scott hangs back for a moment and steps closer to him.

 

“I had fun. It was nice hanging out,” Scott says, smiling and standing a little awkwardly.

 

Before Derek can respond, Stiles calls for Scott.

 

“Oh, ScoooOOOOOooootttt,” Stiles calls in a strange sing-song voice. “Hurry up and kiss Derek goodnight so we can goooOOOOOoooo!”

 

Scott turns around throws Stiles a look of pure humiliation. Stiles shrugs and grins, still looking very much buzzed.

 

“Hey, don’t get mad at _me_!” Stiles says. “Braeden made me say it!”

 

“Did _not!_ ” Braeden protests and the two begin a battle of “Uh huhs” and “Nah uhs.”

 

Scott shakes his head and turns back to Derek. “Guess I have to go now.”

 

Derek laughs and, on impulse, pulls Scott in for a hug. Scott hugs him back tightly and beams at him when they pull apart.

 

“I’ll see you later,” Derek says.

 

Scott nods, bites his lip, and walks outside to his car.

 

As soon as Scott’s out of sight, Erica slides next to Derek and pouts at him with her huge brown eyes.

 

“Do I get a hug, too?” she asks. “Or is that only for Mr. McCutie?”

 

Derek side-eyes Erica, then sighs, and gives her a hug.

 

“Yay!” Erica cheers and Derek can’t help but laugh. “Thanks for coming, Der-Bear!”

 

Derek pulls away and rolls his eyes at the nick name. “Of course. Happy birthday, Boyd!” Derek calls over Erica’s head at Boyd.

 

“Thanks!” Boyd calls as he shows Cora and Lydia—both of whom are still very much buzzed—to the guest room.

 

“Night, Cora! Night Lydia!” Derek calls to the stumbling women.

 

“Night,” Lydia says, still sounding somewhat bright and happy. Cora, on the other hand, just grunts and waves a hand in Derek’s direction.

 

Isaac stalks up behind him and leans on his shoulder. Derek looks over at Isaac and snorts.

 

“Ready to go?”

 

“Yeaaah,” Isaac drags, blinking slowly.

 

Derek snorts again and starts to lead Isaac out of the house, waving to Boyd and Erica one last time. As they walk to Derek’s car, Isaac suddenly smiles blearily at Derek.

 

“So what happened with you and Scott? How’d that go?” he asks with a perverted smile on his face.

 

“It went the way it went,” Derek answers gruffly as he gets into the car.

 

Isaac rolls his eyes and follows suit, settling into the passenger seat and leaning his head against the head rest.

 

“So,” Derek starts, “when’s your first date with Stiles?”

 

Derek starts the car as Isaac glares at him and turns his head to look out the window.

 

“Next weekend,” Isaac finally answers grudgingly and Derek smiles as he pulls off.

****

The next morning, after dropping Isaac off to pick up his car from Boyd and Erica’s, Derek goes to pick up Talia from Laura’s. And of course he spends the entire trip thinking about Scott.  Or rather the fact that he was pretty sure that Scott was going to kiss him last night.

 

Derek’s mind is stuck on replay again. He keeps thinking about Scott’s eyes and the way they lingered on his lips; his shy smile and the way his entire face lights up when he blushes; the way he said his name last night.

 

And about how his ex-wife, best friends, sisters, and five year-old daughter were right and that he’ll probably _never_ get away from their taunts.

 

As Derek drives, he suddenly thinks about his own parents. He thinks about what his mother—Talia, who his daughter is named after—would say about Scott. He pictures her in his mind: tall, somewhat intimidating, yet soft-eyed, kind, and so loving. She would smile, actually. She would probably laugh at him a little.

 

 _What a sweet boy! When are you going on a proper date with him, Derek?_ She’d asked teasingly. Then she’d get more serious, look at him, and say, _You can’t keep running from your feelings, Derek._

Before he knows it, Laura’s house appears in his view. When he pulls into her driveway, he can see a set of tiny eyes peering at him out of the window. Of course, he thinks about last night again and snorts. Leave it to those three to push him towards Scott and then embarrass him in front Scott.

 

Derek knocks on the door and tries not to laugh at the fact that he can hear Talia rushing away from the window. Eventually, Laura opens the door and smiles widely at Derek.

 

“Hey, Derek! You don’t look hungover!” Laura says cheerfully.

 

Derek gives Laura a “What in the fuck?!” look and peeks around to see if Talia heard.

 

“Don’t worry, Talia went back upstairs to get her stuff ready. She didn’t hear me,” Laura says, dropping the cheer and rolling her eyes at her brother.

 

“Just making sure. You know you sometimes ‘forget’—” Derek adds air quotes and steps around Laura—“to watch your mouth around her.”

 

Laura closes the door and flounces down onto her couch. She looks over at Derek as he sits in her loveseat and smirks.

 

“I’m just glad that you didn’t get shitfaced last night,” Laura says. “Unlike our dear baby sister.”

 

Derek laughs and shakes his head at the memory of Cora’s groggy wave at him last night.

 

“Yeah, no, I didn’t,” Derek says. “I didn’t drink very much because I knew that I had to pick up Talia the next morning. Fortunately for everyone, Cora didn’t have anyone to pick up.”

 

Laura smiles and sighs happily. “Aw, Cora. Wonder how grumpy she is right now.”

 

At that moment, Talia comes trotting down the stairs with a slightly concerned look on her face.

 

“Why would Auntie Cora be grumpy?” she asks in confusion. “Is she sick?”

 

Derek throws Laura another look. Laura, of course, totally ignores it and smiles at Talia sweetly.

 

“She’s a little bit sick, but don’t worry. She’ll be better later on today,” Laura answers with the biggest smile.

 

Derek gives her the Grumpy Cat face and then turns to his daughter. “Did you have fun last night, Tally?”

 

Talia grins and nods, running over and sitting in Derek’s lap. “Yep, I sure did!”

 

Derek raises an eyebrow at Talia and then at Laura again.

 

“You ate a bunch of chocolate cake, didn’t you?”

 

Talia clams up and looks over at Laura, who at least has the decency to look guilty.

 

“Yeaaaah, I _did_ ,” Talia admits, poking her lower lip out and shrinking a little bit.

 

Derek’s head rolls back and he lets a loud growl out. Talia stifles a laugh and Laura makes a squawking noise.

 

“It’s her favorite dessert and I hadn’t made it in a long time!” Laura defends.

 

“War on vegetables, Laura!”

 

Laura shrugs and smiles sheepishly at Derek. “I may have helped you lose that one?”

 

“ _Ugh_.”

 

Talia leans on Derek’s chest and looks up at him with bright eyes and a cunning smile.

 

“Don’t worry, Daddy. I’ll still be eating vegetables and stuff,” Talia offers brightly.

 

Derek looks at his daughter suspiciously. “What’s the catch?”

 

Talia hums happily and leans her head on Derek’s chest again. Derek notices that she didn’t answer his question and watches his daughter through narrowed eyes.

 

“I blame _you_ , Laura,” Derek says.

 

“I thought you blamed Braeden,” Laura responds while trying to suppress a laugh.

 

“Her too.”

 

This apparently catches Talia’s attention and she sits up and looks at Derek curiously.

 

“Daddy, did Mr. McCall have fun last night?” she demands.

 

“Hey, why don’t ask if _I_ had fun?”

 

Talia gives him one of her signature looks. “Daddy, I _knew_ you’d have fun. All your friends were there. What about Mr. Mcall??”

 

“Mr. McCall had fun, too, Tally,” he answers. “I _promise_ he did.”

 

Laura gives Derek a look that he very much ignores in favor of looking at his daughter’s suspicious face.

 

“Okay,” she says skeptically. “But I’m still gonna ask him tomorrow.”

 

"Yeah," Laura adds with a grin, "I'm sure that your dad was _very_ nice to Mr. McCall."

 

He hates her _so_ much.

********

The next day, when Derek picks up Talia from school, Derek doesn’t get to talk to Scott because some other mom is. This time, Derek doesn’t even pretend to not be disappointed. Nor does he pretend to not watch the way Scott’s face move when he speaks.  Talia, Alicia, and Kira come bouncing out of the school, happy as ever. When Talia reaches Derek, she looks up and sees the expression that he hasn’t even been trying to hide. And then she looks over to Scott.

 

“Daddy,” she announces, startling Derek out his reverie, “I’ll be right back.”

 

Then she turns around marches toward Scott and the woman. Derek looks up in alarm and wonders if this is the day Talia executes her plan to embarrass Derek to death.

 

“Talia! What’re you doing?” Derek demands.

 

Talia turns around and smiles at Derek. “Don’t worry!” she whispers loudly and how can Derek _not_ worry at that?

 

As Derek starts to hastily follow his daughter, Talia stops near Scott and stands there very politely while Scott wraps up his conversation with the mom. When Scott finally turns to her, she gives him the puppiest of all puppy-dog eyes. Derek catches up just in time to hear her question.

 

“Mr. McCall, I was wondering if you would come to dinner with me and my daddy on Sunday?” she asks eagerly, batting her big brown eyes at him.

 

Derek freezes on the spot while Scott’s face goes through a procession of surprise, eagerness, and a slight sense of panic.

 

“Um, well,” Scott stammers and laughs a little nervously, “I mean, I usually have dinner with my mom.”

 

“Oh, you can bring her too! She can meet my granddaddy!” Talia says enthusiastically.

 

Scott blinks at her slowly and then looks up at Derek hesitantly.

 

“Do you really want me to come?” Scott asks, looking as though he’s waiting for the other shoe to drop.

 

Derek blinks and says, “Yeah,” before he realizes that his mouth is moving. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

 

Scott smiles and nods. “Okay. Sunday, right?”

 

Talia nods vehemently. “Yep!”

 

“You have our address, right?” Derek asks, mouth moving on autopilot.

 

“Um, yeah, I do,” Scott answers, the smile still on his face.

 

Talia is about to say something else when another teacher comes and taps Scott on the shoulder.

 

“Oh, I have to go, we’re about to have a meeting,” Scott says as if he just remembered. “But, um, yeah. I’ll see you all Sunday!”

 

Derek and Talia both smile and nod. Scott grins, waves at them, and walks off with the other teacher.

 

As soon as Scott’s back in the building, the reality of what just happened occurs to Derek.

 

“Wait,” he says softly to himself, “what?”

 

Talia looks up at her baffled father and nudges him gently.  When Derek looks down at her, she smiles again.

 

“You should make your ice-cream,” she suggests happily. “He’ll like that!”

 

******

Okay, so dinner is not something that Derek usually freaks out over. Usually it’s just him and Talia eating and making ridiculous jokes at each other. Sometimes he’ll eat dinner with Laura and Cora, or with Alan, or sometimes they’ll all eat together, which is his favorite. This Sunday is going to be himself, Talia, and Alan.

 

And Scott. And Scott’s mother.

 

Derek feels anxious on Sunday afternoon as he finishes checking up on the chicken. In addition to convincing him to make ice cream, also convinces him to make macaroni and cheese, which is apparently her _second_ favorite food. He’s also made green peas, mashed potatoes, and rolls. As he checks on everything, Talia sits on the counter, swinging her legs and watching Derek rush around.

 

“Daddy, you’re making me dizzy,” Talia says, laughing as Derek takes the rolls out of the oven. “Stop moving like that!”

 

“Like what?” Derek asks obliviously, not looking at his daughter as he rushes to cut the green peas off.

 

“Like you’re scared,” Talia answers simply, causing Derek to stop dead in his tracks.

 

“I’m not _scared_ ,” he tells her futilely.

 

“Yes you are, Daddy.”

 

Derek opens his mouth to reply, but then slams it shut and turns off the macaroni. There’s no point in arguing with her if she’s right.

 

“Mr. McCall and his mommy will like it!” Talia reassures, as if nothing can shake her beliefs.

 

Just then, the doorbell rings and Derek’s heart drops into his stomach. Talia hops off the counter and runs to answer the door before Derek even move.

 

“Hi, granddaddy!!” Talia screeches in excitement and Derek’s sigh of relief could fill up a hot air balloon.

 

“Hello, there, Derek,” Alan says with a warm smile.

 

“Hi, Alan,” Derek answers gratefully. “How’re you?”

 

“Much better now that I’m with you two,” Alan says, pulling Talia in for a tight hug. Alan then takes a look at Derek’s face and pulls a face. “Derek, why do you look so nervous?”

 

“Mr. McCall is coming over!” Talia supplies. “And he’s bringing his mommy!”

 

“ _Ah_ ,” Alan says, grinning widely and looking at Derek again. “Ah, I see. I understand.”

 

“I do _not_ look nervous, first of all,” Derek lies. “Second of all, Talia invited them over. It’s no big deal.”

 

“Sure, son, I understand. No big deal,” Alan patronizes, walking into the living room with Talia.

 

Derek rolls his eyes and goes into the dining room, looking over the table again. He actively ignores the sound of Talia telling Alan about how Scott went to Boyd’s birthday party and how she made sure to tell Derek to be extra nice to Scott. Derek actively ignores the sound of Alan laughing at Derek’s feelings though his conversation with Talia until he can’t stall any longer and _has_ to go back into the living room.

 

“So,” Alan asks him as soon Derek enters the room, “when are they going to get here?”

 

Of course, the doorbell rings as soon as the question leaves Alan’s mouth.

 

“Right now!” Talia cries in excitement, hopping off the couch and answering the door. Alan smiles at Derek and Derek tries to arrange his face into something that doesn’t say, “Freaking the fuck out, thank you very much.”

 

On the door side of the door is Scott and a woman that looks very much like him. She has the same brown skin, kind eyes, and 1000 watt smile.

 

Surprisingly, when Derek sees them, the nervousness melts way. Now, all he feels like doing is smiling.

 

“Hi,” Derek says contentedly, “come in.”

 

“Hello,” Scott’s mother says as she steps inside of the home, “I’m Melissa McCall.”

 

Derek takes her outstretched hand and kisses it instead of shaking it (something his father always did when he was young.) Melissa blushes and looks over to Scott.

 

“I think I like him already,” she quips, making Derek blush.

 

Alan, who had gotten up from his seat at the couch, laughs and steps forward to introduce himself.

 

“I’m Alan,” he says, kissing her hand and giving a little bow afterwards.

 

“I like him too!” Melissa says, sounding impressed and cocking an eyebrow.

 

Alan smirks at Derek and Derek good-naturedly rolls his eyes in return. Talia steps closer to Melissa and waves to her.

 

“I’m Talia,” she says shyly, with big puppy dog eyes and one hand behind her back.

 

Melissa grins widely. “Hey there, pretty girl,” she says and then she reaches down and hugs Talia. “So you’re the one who’s been making sure that my son does his job right, huh?”

 

Talia giggles and blushes. “He’s the best teacher ever,” she answers with a timid smile.

 

Melissa throws a proud smile in Scott’s direction. Scott, who had been talking to Alan, tries very hard not to blush.

 

“Well,” Melissa counters, “I hear that you’re also one of the best _students_ ever!”

 

Talia’s eyes widen and her mouth falls open in amazement. Talia looks back at Derek and then over to Scott.

 

“I _am?_ ” she asks.

 

Scott nods at her and gives her one of the most genuine smiles Derek’s ever seen on anyone.

 

“You are,” Scott answers

 

Talia gapes for a moment, and then makes a loud squealing noise and rushes over to Derek.

 

“ _Did you hear that, Daddy?!_ ” she asks, sounding more excited than Derek’s ever heard her.

 

“I sure did, sweetheart,” Derek says proudly, picking his daughter off of the ground.

 

Alan and Melissa coo and laugh warmly while Scott stands by and smiles. Derek catches Scott’s eye and feels his stomach flutter.

 

“Let’s go eat,” Derek says.

 

*******

The dinner is a dream. A dream filled with laughing, wild gesticulating, embarrassing childhood stories courtesy of Melissa, and Scott’s smile. Talia, who had taken a seat in between Scott and Alan, tells the group her and Kira’s plan to build the world’s largest paper flower statue, and Derek has no doubt that they’ll somehow do it. Melissa tells the group about the time Scott and Stiles were both seven years old and got their heads stuck buckets and proceeded to run around the room yelling. Alan helpfully tells everyone about the time Derek conspired to scare away Laura’s boyfriend because he didn’t like the way the guy wore his hair.

 

“Hey, I was eleven when I did that!” Derek cries defensively. “And the guy had _so much_ hair grease!”

 

“That’s nothing,” Melissa says, scooting her chair closer to the table. “When Scott was eight—a few years after his dad and I divorced—his dad came over to visit. And when he wasn’t looking, Scott dumped an entire jar of honey over his head.”

 

Everyone laughs and Talia’s mouth falls open in surprise.

 

“You did that, Mr. McCall?!” she asks in a scandalized voice.

 

“Oh, no! Thanks, Mom! Now she’s never going to look up to me again,” Scott groans, leaning his head back.

 

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Alan says. “I think you just became Tally’s greatest inspiration.”

 

“Great. More trouble for me,” Derek deadpans.

 

“I wouldn’t dump stuff on your head, Daddy,” Talia tells him sweetly.

 

“Besides, she wouldn’t have a reason to dump honey on yours,” Melissa says pointedly, giving Derek a look.

 

Scott raises both eyebrows and his rolls his eyes. Derek notices and his skin starts to crawl a little. The thought of Scott’s father not being there for him or treating Scott and Melissa badly made something within him rumble. How could someone even _think_ about abandoning or mistreating their child? Or abandoning or mistreating Scott?

 

Talia peers around the table curiously, stopping to blink at Derek several times. She then turns to Scott sharply.

 

“Do you ever want to be a dad, Mr. McCall?” she asks curiously, shoveling a spoon of macaroni in her mouth as soon as the question is out.

 

Scott blinks rapidly and sits up straight, looking caught off guard for a moment. Then he laughs a little nervously and settles back into his seat.

 

“Oh, yes, I really do,” Scott admits happily. “I would to love to be a parent someday.”

 

Talia swallows and smiles brightly. Derek feels a flare in his stomach (he’s getting really tired of all the physical reactions his body’s putting him through, by the way).

 

“And _I_ would love to be a grandparent someday!” Melissa adds cheerfully, staring directly at Scott’s embarrassed smile. “If Scott would stop acting so _shy_ all the time and get me a kid!”

 

“ _Ma_!” Scott cries, laughing in embarrassment.

 

Alan and Melissa start laugh and tease Scott while Talia happily chomps on macaroni. Derek laughs softly and tries to imagine Scott as a dad. Instead, he imagines Scott with Talia. He imagines the three of them walking through parks, eating breakfasts and dinners, or just sitting around the house picking on one another. He imagines Scott moving around the house, planning a class at the dining room table, or helping Derek make dinner. He imagines Scott helping Talia getting ready for school or slipping her another piece of candy even though Derek is _still_ trying to win the War on Vegetables. Derek imagines Scott as family—as a part of _his_ family. As a part of him.

 

Derek catches Scott’s eyes and makes eye contact. Scott blushes, smiling softly.

******

It is now midnight. Dinner’s been over for hours and Talia is knocked out in her room. Derek is supposed to be asleep too; he has to get up at 6 am. But it’s midnight and Derek’s lying on his back, staring at his ceiling and sleep is nowhere in sight. Besides, every time Derek closes his eyes, he just sees Scott’s smile.

 

Here’s the thing: Derek’s not sure when exactly he went from having a crush on Scott to being totally in love with Scott. Maybe it was at dinner tonight, when Scott blushed at him. Or maybe it was at the party, when he could feel Scott’s breath on his cheek. Or maybe he’s always been in love with him. Maybe it was the first day of kindergarten, when Scott beamed his infamous smile at him for the first time.  Maybe Derek was doomed from the first time Erica had asked him if he liked Scott’s face. But it’s happened, and Derek’s not sure where to go from here.

 

He could just tell him. Derek could march up to Scott after school tomorrow and blurt it out. But there’s absolutely no way in hell that’s going to happen. He could just ask Scott out on a real date. They could just go to dinner and go from there. But what if Scott doesn’t _really_ want to seriously date Derek? What if Scott just sees Derek as someone interesting, yeah, but not relationship-worthy? What if Derek’s feelings are way too intense for Scott and he scares him away?

 

What if Derek is just overthinking things and should just go to sleep?

 

Derek takes a deep breath and turns on his side, willing himself to go to sleep. Derek forces his eyes shut and Scott’s laughing face floats into his view.

 

He’s not sure _exactly_ what his next step is, but he knows that a next step is imperative.

*****

Derek is awaken by the feeling of a small finger poking him in his cheek.

 

“Daaaaaddy,” Talia stage whispers, poking him again. “Daaaaaaaaaaddy! It’s time to get up!”

 

Derek opens one eye in confusion. Talia, who shouldn’t even be awake right now, is kneeling on his abdomen and peering curiously into his face. Derek opens both his eyes and struggles to sit up. As he moves, Talia slides off of him and onto his bed.

 

“Tally, what’re you doing awake already?” Derek grumbles sleepily. He blinks and looks over at his (now unplugged) alarm clock. 5: 55 am.

 

“I don’t know,” Talia answers, shrugging her shoulders. “I just am. Come on, we gotta get ready and stuff!”

 

Talia hops off of Derek’s bed and rushes off to her bathroom. Derek sighs, heaves himself out of bed, and goes to his bathroom. After a 10 minute shower during which he contemplates his feelings for Scott, Derek is fully awake. Derek gets dressed and packs up his bag.

 

“Daddy!” Talia yells from her room.

 

“Yeah, honey?”

 

“Can we have chocolate pancakes for breakfast?!”

 

“Tally, you ask me that _every_ morning. What do I always say?”

 

“Nooo,” Talia answers dejectedly.

 

Derek stifles a laugh and goes to check his email real quick before he starts breakfast. As he’s scrolling through the emails, he sees one from Scott and immediately freezes. He thaws a little when he sees that Scott’s sent it to all the parents in the class. He also notices that Scott sent the email on Sunday, about two hours before he came over for dinner.

 

_Dear parents,_

_I am writing you all to inform you that I will_ not _be present in class for most of this week. I am attending a conference in San Francisco and will be gone from Tuesday—Thursday. I will be present in class on Friday, but a substitute will be present for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I expect everything to run just as smoothly as always and will miss everyone while I’m gone!_

_Best regards,_

_Mr. Scott McCall_

 

Well that sucks.

 

“Daddy?” Talia asks, appearing out of nowhere, fully dressed in a sparkly black shirt, leggings, and her beloved tutu. Talia stands on her tiptoes and tries to look at the screen. “Whatca reading?”

 

“Apparently, after today, Mr. McCall is going to be gone for most of the week.”

 

Talia frowns in a way that Derek has never seen before. Then she wrinkles her nose and glares.

 

“What foooooor?” she wails, still snarling. “Why’s he gonna be gone?”

 

Derek closes his laptop and frowns down at his daughter. “He has a conference to go to. He’s going to be there today and Friday, though.”

 

Talia deflates and grimaces at the ground. She then suddenly brightens up and looks at Derek with enthusiasm.

 

“Hey! That gives us time for our plan!!” Talia announces brightly. She then turns around and runs back to her room, taking her backpack with her.

 

Derek watches her scurry down the hall confusedly. “Your plan for building the world’s tallest flower statute?”

 

“Noooo, not that one!” she yells from her room. Derek peeks in and sees her putting a mountain of colored construction paper into her backpack. “The _other_ one!”

 

Derek frowns as he tries to think about the last few things Talia’s told him. He also notices that Talia is now placing a bunch of markers into her backpack as well.

 

“Talia, don’t you guys still have supplies at school?” Derek asks curiously.

 

Talia gives him a look and shrugs her backpack on. “These were chosen _for the plan_ , Daddy!” she explains carefully.

 

“I don’t what plan you’re talking about, sweetie.”

 

Talia opens her mouth and then slams her hand over it, eyebrows shooting up. The movement startles and confuses Derek even more.

 

“I can’t tell you, actually!” Talia informs. “You might tell Mr. McCall by mistake!”

 

“No, I wouldn’t,” Derek mumbles defensively, wishing, for the first and probably only time, that his daughter wasn’t so smart.

 

Talia nods vigorously. “ _Yes_ you would. I’m gonna get some cereal so we can hurry up and leave!” she declares suddenly, running into the kitchen. “Come on!!” she adds when she sees that Derek is still just standing around confusedly.

 

“Um…okay?” Derek wanders into the kitchen, and watches his daughter devour a bowl of cereal.

 

Talia is done with her breakfast before Derek can even grab a banana. She rushes over the door and then, with sudden patience, stands there waiting for Derek. It reminds Derek of the first day of school. The beginning of this entire fiasco.

********

Derek is _supposed_ to be doing work right now, but he’s now sitting at his desk, staring at his computer screen, thinking about Scott, again. He’s wondering whether or not he’ll have time to talk to Scott after school today. He wonders whether or not he even _should_ talk to Scott after school today. He thinks about Talia and wonders what on Earth Talia has planned that depends on Scott’s being gone. Derek wonders if Talia’s going to end up getting kicked out of kindergarten.

 

“Hey!” Isaac says, startling Derek out his reverie. “How’s it going?” Isaac plops down in the chair in front of Derek’s desks and grins up at him. “Thinking about Scott?”

 

“I’m fine, Isaac, thanks,” Derek answers, glaring at Isaac. “You still thinking about Stiles?”

 

“No,” Isaac says childishly, his blush giving him away.

 

Derek grins evilly. “Didn’t you have another date with him on Saturday?”

 

“Yes, and it went just fine, thank you,” Isaac rushes out, glaring daggers at Derek.

 

“You and Stiles getting pretty close?”

 

Isaac bites his lip and huffs out a breath while Derek starts to chuckle at his embarrassment. Isaac suddenly brightens up and cocks an eyebrow at Derek.

 

“At least I’ve gone on a couple of dates with Stiles,” Isaac says, still glaring at Derek, but smirking now. “At least I’m not still doing that whole ‘admiring-from-a-far’ bullshit. Have you gone _anywhere_ with Scott yet?”

 

“He came to dinner last night,” Derek refutes.

 

“Dinner with the family doesn’t count. Dinner with the family will not get you laid, Derek Hale.”

 

“I’m not trying to laid, Isaac Lahey!”

 

“Stop lying to yourself, Derek. You’re never going to get any if you keep lying to yourself.”

 

“Fuck you, Isaac.”

 

“You should tell that to Scott.”

 

Derek growls at Isaac, baring his teeth, at which Isaac laughs easily. Isaac leans back and puts his feet on Derek’s desk, like an insolent high schooler.

 

“You _know_ I’m right,” Isaac says.

 

“Isaac,” Derek snarls. “Get. Out. Of my office. _Now_.”

 

Isaac rolls his eyes, gets up, and starts to slowly make his way out. Just as he reaches the threshold, he puts both hands in his pockets, and spins around on his heels.

 

“You know, I think maybe we should just stop thinking about it,” Isaac suggests, his snarky, sarcastic demeanor gone. He bites his lip again, this time with a thoughtful look on his face. “Just go for it. It’d be a hell of a lot easier.”

 

Derek watches Isaac as he turns and walks out of his office, pondering his words. Derek’s not totally sure, but he thinks that Isaac just confirmed that Derek is, indeed, overthinking things. No one would’ve ever accused Derek of overthinking when he was younger. He would just bulldoze into things, dive headfirst on impulse. It was what he did—what all the Hales did, with the exception of his mother Talia.  Derek usually takes pride in the fact that he learned to think before he acted; that he learned to consider every single possibility, every potential outcome.  But he should just stop thinking right now. Just go with it. Just go _for_ it.

 

It’d definitely make him less tired.

 

Derek glances at the clock on his wall. It’s time to pick Talia up from school. Derek guesses that it’s time to go for it.

*********

Derek looks just as impatient as some of the kids as he waits outside for Talia (and Scott) to come out. Derek is _not_ going to professor his love for Scott just yet, because this is his life and not a 80s movie. But he’s going to say something, _anything_. He has to.

 

Derek spots Talia as she skips out of the front door. She’s holding Kira’s hand while Alicia gesticulates wildly. Derek smiles at the scene as Talia sees him and rushes over, two best friends in tow.

 

“Hi, Daddy!! Heeeeey, Mr. Tally’s Dad! Hi, Mr. Hale,” the three greetings are simultaneous and each girl gives him her signature look of manipulation.

 

“Hey guys!” Derek responses, crouching down to their level. “How’d your day go?”

 

“We started our plan!” Talia blurts excitedly, squeezing Kira’s hand as Kira nods vigorously. “And we made sure that Mr. McCall didn’t see,” she adds in a lowered voice.

 

“We were a little sad at first because Mr. McCall told us that he’s gonna be gone, but then Talia told us that we could finish the plan before he got back!” Kira explains to Derek, her eyes shiny and her smile huge.

 

“Are you sure you can’t tell me what this plan is?” Derek asks, because he’s getting more and more curious each time it’s mentioned.

 

“Yes,” Talia says firmly. “I am very sure I can’t tell you, Daddy.”

 

Kira and Alicia laugh as Derek’s face falls and he squints at his daughter. Talia grins up at him and starts to swings her and Kira’s tangled hands back and forth.

 

“So how was the rest of your day?” Derek asks flatly, still staring at Talia through narrowed eyes.

 

“Oh, I have _really_ good news!” Talia says brightly.

 

“Is it about your secret plan again?”

 

“ _No_ , Daddy!” Talia giggles.  “Kira and I have decided to get married!”

 

Derek smiles and the cuteness of that statement pretty much kills him. Kira nods vigorously again, her face reddening as she beams up at her apparent future father-in-law.

 

“Well, they’re getting real-life married when we all grow up,” Alicia clarifies. “Right now they’re just school married.”

 

“Either way, we’re married now!” Talia says, grinning over at Kira.

 

Just then, both Kira’s parents and Erica and Boyd pull up behind them.

 

“Oh, hey, can I take Talia over to tell my parents?!” Kira asks excitedly and there’s no way possible to say no to both Talia _and_ Kira because that is an unnatural combination of adorableness.

 

“Of course,” Derek says, and the kids rush past him to their respective parents/parent-in-laws.

 

“Mommy, Daddy! Tally and I are married!” Derek hears Kira yell to her parents.

 

Derek’s standing there chuckling to himself when he spots Scott walk out of the school. Scott smiles at him and Derek swallows hard and hopes his slamming heart isn’t making audible noises.  Scott walks over to him and Derek mentally prepares himself.

 

“So I see that Talia’s told you the good news? You’re a father-in-law!” Scott says happily.

 

Derek laughs again and looks over at Kira and Talia. Derek sees that Kira’s parents start to laugh and cheer when Kira raises her and Taila’s hands.

 

Still laughing to himself, Derek turns back around to face Scott.

 

Scott kind of winces and says, “Hey, I’m sorry that I didn’t mention the conference during dinner last night. I was having too much fun, I think.”

 

Derek smiles and nods. “It’s fine. You _did_ send an email. So when are you leaving?”

 

“I’m actually leaving in a couple of hours,” Scott says with a small frown. “I get back on Thursday evening.”

 

 _Say something_ , Derek thinks as he nods thoughtfully.

 

“Hey, if you’re not too tired on Friday, you should stop by the house,” Derek rushes out, simultaneously trying not to think and wondering if he should say something. Because what if that was awkward? What if it makes Scott uncomfortable? What if Scott—

 

“Sure,” Scott answers, smiling softly and Derek’s stomach twists into a knot. “We can hang out for a little while.”

 

Derek nods, and he knows that this is one of those times that people can see the resemblance between him and Talia. Scott laughs softly and bites his lip. That knot tightens and Derek feels a little breathless and yes, he’s in love. He’s _definitely_ in love.

 

“Heeey!” Talia yells. Scott and Derek turn around and see Talia rushing over to them. Talia slides to a stop and grabs onto Derek’s leg with a tired but bright smile on her face. “Mr. McCall! We’re gonna miss you this week!”

 

“I’m gonna miss you guys too!” Scott says, smiling down at Talia. “You guys are going to be good for Mr. Mahealani, right?”

 

“ _Yes sir_ ” Talia says in a sigh, smiling. “I promise we’ll be nice.”

 

Derek should probably worry about the fact that his daughter has such a control over her kindergarten class, but he’s a bit too focused on how the three look together.

 

Talia then looks up at Derek and tugs his hand. “Hey, Alicia’s parents want to talk to you,” she tells him, blinking up at him.

 

“Oh,” Derek says in surprise, “oh, well, I guess I’ll see you later, then.”

 

Scott smiles at them both and nods again. “Yeah, I’ll see you Friday.”

 

Talia tugs him away from Scott and Derek waves at him as they walk away. Talia’s always confusing him, because this is the only time when she hasn’t _shoved_ Derek towards Scott.

 

“What’s going on, sweetie?” Derek asks.

 

“Did you mention anything about the plan?” Talia asks, glaring at Derek suspiciously.

 

“What is this plan and why is it so secret?!” Derek asks in exasperation.

 

“ _Because_ ,” Talia huffs and she takes a quick glance around before continuing, “it’s about Mr. McCall!”

 

Derek, who got very nervous when she glanced around like that, looks over his shoulder at Scott, who was talking to another parent.

 

“What’re you guys doing for Mr. McCall?”

 

“I can’t tell you anymore,” Talia says gravely, pulling him over to where Boyd and Erica are standing with Alicia. “And don’t say that I said anything in front of Alicia!” she adds in a fierce whisper.

 

“I give up,” Derek says in defeat, letting Talia tug him along.

 

“Good!” Talia says. “Because it’s a surprise for Mr. McCall! And it’s gonna make everyone really happy.”

 

Derek lifts his eyebrow and smirks at his daughter. “Is it gonna make _me_ happy, too?”

 

Talia suddenly stops and squeezes Derek’s hand, a very serious look in her eyes.

 

“If you want it to,” Talia answers, looking Derek directly in the eye. “If you let yourself be happy, then you’ll be happy.”

 

Talia then smiles at him and skips over to hug Erica around the waist, leaving a flustered Derek behind.

********

The week literally drags by.

 

Derek actually feels bad for Danny Mahealani; he’s really a very good substitute teacher. He’s very kind, charming, and has a dimpled smile that could make anyone trust him. He reminds Derek of Allison a little bit, except that he’s fairly certain that Danny couldn’t kill him.

 

But he’s not Scott and he has no idea that Talia has taken complete control of everything and everyone in that class. Not to mention that she’s been conducting her secret plan while he’s trying to teach them their hundred’s, so the kids’ attention has been a little scattered. 

 

Talia has an irritated look on her face when he picks her up on Tuesday. She grumbles something about Danny being nosy and missing Scott while she slumps to the car. Derek’s just glad to see that he’s not the only one that’s slumping because of how much they missed Scott.

 

As much as he wants Scott to be home again, he tries not to think very hard about Friday.  It’d make him nervous if he did. He does allow himself to think about Scott while he’s making dinner for himself, Talia, Laura and Cora on Wednesday night, though. He wonders if Scott would want to go out to eat on Friday; he wonders what Scott’s favorite restaurant is.

 

“Hey, Derek!” Laura’s voice pulls him out of his thoughts. She throws her arms around his waist and smiles wolfishly. “If you let me make my chocolate cake, I’ll help you get ready for your date on Friday.”

 

Derek rolls his eyes good-naturedly and sighs at his sister. “You know what, I’m taking you up on that offer,” Derek says.

 

Laura’s face lights up and she jumps up and down clapping. “Yay!”

 

Derek chuckles at as he turns off the stove, making sure the spaghetti does overcook. Derek stares at Laura as she does a small happy dance.

 

“You’re acting like a kindergartener that just got married,” Derek quips, shooting at glance at Talia.

 

Cora and Talia overhear and they both start to laugh. Cora looks over to her niece expectantly, flaring her nostrils and raising her eyebrows.

 

“Speaking of which, _I’ve_ yet to meet the lucky girl. Why does no one let me meet anyone?” Cora asks petulantly.

 

“Because you have a tendency to scowl at anyone who isn’t Talia or Lydia,” Laura says as she walks back to the dinner table. “Can’t have you scowling at a small child.”

 

Cora gives Laura an exaggerated scowl in response, while Talia kicks her feet and swings her head happily. Derek smirks at his family and begins to serve the spaghetti and rolls.

 

“Hey, where is Lydia?” Talia inquires after grinning at Derek.

 

“At a convention to learn more about science that I don’t understand,” Cora sighs, deflating a little bit.

 

“You sound so lost without her,” Derek teases gently.

 

Cora pouts in his direction and slumps her shoulders. Talia frowns a little and reaches over and pats Cora’s arm sympathetically.

 

“That’s how Daddy feels without Mr. McCall around,” she assures Cora.

 

“Thanks, Talia,” Derek says flatly as he sits down next to his daughter. Talia smiles again and leans her head against Derek.

 

“You’re welcome!” she says cheerfully.

 

Derek makes a face at Talia and she makes one right back. Cora snorts and leans back into her chair while staring at them with amusement. Laura suddenly makes a small squealing sound and puts her hands over her mouth. Her hands don’t hide her grin, though, and her entire face lights up.

 

“Umm, sis, are you okay?” Cora asks, staring at Laura as if she were an alien.

 

Laura’s face turns red and she starts to bounce in her chair, causing Cora and Derek to stare at her even harder.  Eventually, Laura starts to wave her hands wildly in the air.

 

“I’m just so _happy!_ ” Laura cries out, face red with excitement. “ _All my babies are falling in love!”_

 

Cora and Talia erupt in laughter as Laura makes another squealing sound. Derek smiles softly and nods to himself.

 

 _Yeah_ , he thinks, _we’re all in love._

********

On Thursday afternoon, while Talia’s taking her backpack to her room, a, paper flower crown falls out of it.

 

“Um, Tally, I think you dropped this?” Derek says, holding up the crown. He’s actually very impressed by it; it’s pretty intricate.

 

Talia’s eyes widen as she reaches up and takes the crown from Derek. Talia inspects the crown closely, shooting Derek looks as she does.

 

“You saw nothing,” she tells Derek. She stares at him as she slowly walks backwards into her room.

 

Derek blinks in confusion as he watches his daughter watch him.

 

“Please don’t get kicked out of kindergarten,” Derek requests.

 

“Okay!” Talia tells him before turning around, flopping on her bed and opening her favorite book.

 

Derek’s turning around to go into the dining room when Talia calls his name.

 

“Hey Daddy!” she yells from behind her book. She doesn’t even look up as Derek rushes into her room.

 

“Yeah, sweetie?”

 

“Mr. McCall comes home tomorrow. Are you ready for him to come back?” Talia asks, still looking at her book pages.

 

“Yes I am,” Derek admits without hesitation.

 

Talia looks up at him this time, her brown skin flushing a little bit as she looks on at him eagerly.

 

“Really?”

 

“ _Really_.”

 

Talia smiles proudly, nods, and looks at her book again, swinging her legs back and forth. Derek, feeling like he just passed another one of her tests, snorts, smiles and walks into the dining room.

 

Later on that night while Derek and Talia are playing Connect 4, his phone rings loudly, shattering their concentration.

 

“Hello?” Derek answers a little impatiently, smiling at the annoyed look on Talia’s face.

 

“Um, Mr. Hale?” Alicia’s voice asks softly.

 

“Oh! Hi, Alicia!” Derek immediately adjusts his tone. Talia’s face changes from comically annoyed to comically excited when she hears Alicia’s name. “Is everything alright?”

 

Derek can hear Alicia smile as she answers, “Yes sir, I’m fine. Can I talk to Talia?”

 

“Um, of course. Where’re your parents?”

 

“Right behind her, trying to figure out what this plan is,” Erica’s voice comes through the speaker, sounding equally curious and suspicious.

 

Alicia laughs and Derek hands the phone to Talia. Talia grabs the phone and balances it between her ear and shoulder, looking like the world’s most adorable businesswoman.

 

“Hey!” Talia says brightly. Derek stands by and watches as Talia talks to Alicia.

 

“Uh huh. Yeah. _No_. Yeah! OOOOOO _yeah_ that’d be cool!! Okay. Yeah. Tomorrow before we get out. Okay!”

 

Derek is perplexed to say the least. He gently taps Talia on the shoulder and leans down to her level.

 

“Can I have the phone back now?”

 

“Sure,” Talia hands him the phone and beams as she sits back down.

 

“Hello, Alicia?” Derek says.

 

“Yes, Mr. Hale?”

 

“Can I talk to your mother please?”

 

“Sure!” Derek can hear the phone being handed to Erica.

 

“Um, Erica?” Derek asks, hoping to _finally_ get some answers about this.

 

“She spoke in a _code_. I _still_ don’t know what the plan is,” Erica responds in a sour tone. “I’m getting worried about how easily our children are getting things past us, Der Bear.”

 

“Me too,” Derek says, narrowing his eyes at his smug daughter.  “Erica, do you think that Boyd’s father would represent our kids if the school ended up suing them?”

 

“Hey, he’d have to! One of them is his granddaughter!” Erica says with a laugh. “See you tomorrow, Derek.”

 

“Yeah, see you,” Derek hangs up and looks at Talia again. Of course she’s still smiling.

 

“Did you move the pieces so you’d have Connect 4?” Derek asks.

 

“….I moved _a_ piece,” Talia admits guiltily, sticking her lower lip out.

 

Derek walks over to the table and carefully inspects the Connect 4 board. He then slides bar from underneath the pieces and he and Talia watch them all fall onto the table.

 

“No Connect 4 for me?” Talia asks sheepishly.

 

“No Connect 4 for you, honey.”

 

Talia sighs and slides down in her chair. “OOOkay.”

 

**********

Friday morning and afternoon are simultaneously the best and worst thing to ever happen to Derek.

 

It’s just like the first day of school all over again. Derek is anxious, tapping the steering wheel and glancing back at Talia ever so often. Talia’s smiling to herself while holding her overstuffed backpack on her lap. Derek would be more suspicious if she didn’t look so damn happy.

 

Derek sees Scott standing outside as he pulls in front of the school and feels himself smile deliriously. Talia hops out of the car and rushes up to the school, leaving two paper flowers in her wake. Derek looks out of the window at the paper flowers in confusion. And then he sees Scott watching him with the 1000 watt beam on his face.

 

“See you tonight?” Scott mouths, looking a little nervous.

 

Derek grins and nods. Yes, definitely.

 

Scott smiles in response, ducks his head a little, and walks into the building, right behind a bouncy Talia.

 

Derek smiles the entire time he drives to work. He can just imagine what everyone would be saying now (especially Braeden). Even as he walks through the zoo to his office, he can’t stop smiling.

 

Then he walks into his office and first two people he sees are Stiles and Laura.

 

“Wait, what?” Derek asks dumbly, staring at them as if they’d just materialized out of thin air.

 

“We’re here to help you get laid tonight,” Laura states simply.

 

Derek’s eyes widen and his mouth parts. His eyes slide over to Stiles, who is nodding vigorously.

 

“Excuse me?” Derek asks Stiles.

 

Stiles nods again. “Yeah. I’m here because Scott totally loves you and wants you two to be together. Ergo, _I_ want you two to be together.”

 

Derek blinks slowly. He then notices Isaac is behind him, sitting at his desk with a hopeful look on his face.

 

“What is happening to me?” Derek asks quietly. “What is happening….wait, how do you two even _know_ each other?”

 

Stiles and Laura look at each other and smile, like old friends who had known each other for years..

 

“Well, I had called Cora and she told me to call Laura because Laura already said that she’d help you,” Stiles explains.

 

“But how’d you get Cora’s number?”

 

“I got it the night of the party! We’ve been texting since then,” Stiles says this nonchalantly, glancing over to Laura with a carefree look in his eyes.

 

“You’ve been texting my sister?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“Isaac,” Derek asks, peering around Stiles, “did you _know_ that Stiles texts Cora?”

 

“He brags about it,” Isaac pouts, “because she texts him more than me.”

 

“Wait, _you_ text my sister, too? You guys are in a competition to see who text her more?”

 

“Laura’s nicer to me, though, so I guess I don’t mind that much,” Isaac continues as if Derek hadn’t asked a question.

 

Derek stares at them and blinks again. “There’s so much not right here.”

 

“Oh, forget about all that. Stiles is here to give you the run down on Scott,” Laura explains.

 

“The run down on Scott?” Derek repeats dimly.

 

“Yes!” Stiles confirms. Suddenly, he’s standing a lot closer to Derek and looking him directly in the eye. It’s unnerving to say the least.

 

“Listen closely, okay? Because I want to get this out of the way first,” Stiles continues, staring hard at Derek. “Scott has feelings. Scott has a big heart and a lot of feelings.”

 

Derek nods slowly. “I gathered that.”

 

“No, you don’t understand. Scott is an ‘I’ll-do-anything-for-anyone-because-everyone-is-great-and-worthy-of-love’ type person.  Scott’s really nice and cares a lot about people and cares a hell of a lot about _you_.”

 

“He . . . does?” Derek asks quietly, feeling slightly overwhelmed.

 

“Yeah, he does,” Stiles says seriously. “He really loves Talia and really wants to be with you. So if you screw up, if you take advantage, if you _hurt him in anyway_ , I will invent _new ways_ of making your life hell. Capiche?”

 

Derek, astonished and overwhelmed, nods slowly.

 

Stiles lowers his shoulders, rolls his neck, and sighs. Then he clasps his hand on Derek’s shoulder and squeezes.

 

“Okay, now that that’s done,” Stiles says, suddenly sounding calm. “Scott’s favorite food is Mexican; his favorite types of movies are dumb comedies and thrillers; he prefers to eat at home because it feels more personal and he’s a really touchy-feely personal person; you don’t necessarily _have_ to dress up for him because he’ll love you in literally anything, but he’ll be extra flattered if you do.  Got it?”

 

Derek, frazzled, overwhelmed, and suddenly nervous as hell, nods.  Stiles stares at him and takes a breath.

 

“Do you love Scott?” Stiles asks suddenly, staring at Derek evenly. “I mean, do you really love him? In love with him and all that?”

 

Derek looks at Stiles and he smiles.

 

“Yes,” Derek says confidently. “I love Scott.”

 

“You’re _in love_ with Scott?”

 

“Yes!”

 

“Nope, nope. Not good enough. I need to hear you say it loud! Are you in love with Scott McCall?”

 

“ _Yes!_ ” Derek yells, and feels the air in his body completely leave him as he continues, “Yes!! I am! I _am!_ I am in love with Scott McCall!!”

 

Derek didn’t realize that his arms were raised until they fall back at his side. He feels breathless and amazed and . . . and giddy. He looks around and the room and sees everyone grinning at him, Laura grinning the widest.

 

Stiles smiles at him and puts his hand on Derek’s shoulder again.

 

“Good,” Stiles says. “Now I suggest you tell him that.”

 

Derek blinks rapidly, and, breathing heavily, and nods.

 

Isaac stands up from behind Derek’s desk, stretches, and shoves his hands in his pocket with an easy smile.

 

“Hey, look,” Isaac says, “it’s time for you to pick Talia up!”

**********

When Derek pulls up to the school, he becomes very confused for two reasons. Reason one is that it’s 2:25 and he doesn’t see Talia outside. Reason two is that he doesn’t see _anyone_ from Scott’s class outside. Derek frowns, parks his car, and gets out.

 

As he’s walking up to the school, he sees Boyd and Erica getting out of their car. Both of them look just as confused as Derek feels.

 

“What’s going on?” Boyd asks, tilting his head and trying to look into a window. “Hey, Lenny, did Alicia say anything about staying after school?”

 

Erica smirks at the name (it’s a nickname for her middle name, Lenette. Derek hadn’t heard it in years) and shrugs.

 

“No, she didn’t. But she’s in kindergarten. What would she need to stay after school for?”

 

Before either of them answer, Erica starts to walk into the school. Suddenly, Alicia shows up with a teacher assistant.

 

“Hey guys!” Alicia says brightly. Derek notices that she’s wearing a small flower crown. “Come in!!”

 

The parents look at each and walk into the school. When they get to the classroom, they hear loud, “Aws!” and see the flash of cameras.

 

The first people Derek sees are Scott and Talia, because they’re standing together.  Derek realizes that Scott is also wearing a paper mâché flower crown. He’s also crying, but has the brightest smile Derek has ever seen.

 

“Daddy!” Talia says happily. She then points to something across the room and smiles proudly. “Look at what we made!”

 

Derek, Erica, and Boyd all turn around and gasp. In front of them is a collage of paper mâché flowers. It’s covered with painted spirals, glitter, smiley faces, and hearts.  As Derek is admiring the collage, he realizes that it isn’t a collage—it’s a big _sign_.  The paper flowers are the letters. Derek takes a step and back reads exactly what the sign says:  “We Love Mr. McCall!”

 

Derek may be actually die because of the sweetness.

 

“I think I just got a cavity,” Boyd says happily, pulling Alicia to him and hugging her close. “Did you help you make this?”

 

Alicia nods. “We all did. But it was Talia’s idea.”

 

Derek’s heart explodes and he’s _definitely_ going to die of sweetness.

 

“Talia,” Derek asks, “this was your secret plan?”

 

Talia nods and makes her way over to Derek. She hugs Derek around his waist and peers up at him.

 

“I didn’t want Mr. McCall to find out about the gift! That’s why I didn’t tell you anything,” Talia says almost apologetically. “Do you think I did good, Daddy?”

 

Derek hugs and kisses her forehead. He then looks over to Scott, who is still crying and beaming.

 

“I think you did,” Derek tells her, not understanding how on Earth he was honored with a daughter like Talia. “I think you did _really_ good, Tally.”

 

*********

“I don’t think I can thank everyone enough,” Scott says as he very carefully loads the sign into the backseat of his car. “No way. I just . . . . I wasn’t ever expecting anything like this, you know?”

 

Derek nods, words caught in his throat again, and squeezes Talia’s hand. Talia blushes and starts to swing their hands back and forth.

 

“I’m glad you like it, Mr. McCall,” she says softly. “I came up with the plan, but Kira did most of the flowers. And Alicia did a lot of the glitter.”

 

“How’d you get it past Mr. Mahealani?” Derek ask curiously.

 

“We folded it up and hid it in the pile,” Talia tells him solemnly. “I had to move Kira’s doll, but she was okay with it.”

 

Derek pulls Talia in for another hug. Then he notices Scott staring at them longingly, with one of his shy smiles.

 

“Do you still want to come over tonight?” Derek asks Scott, not seeing Talia’s head whip as she turns around to stare at Derek.

 

“Yes,” Scott says, staring directly into Derek’s eyes, “most definitely.” Scott then swallows and walks around to the driver’s side of his car. “I gotta go now. Can I come around nine tonight?”

 

“Yeah, nine is good. Nine is great,” Derek says and Talia’s eyes widen.

 

Scott smiles again, gets into his car, backs out of the spot. He waves at them as he drives away.

 

“ _You’re going on a date with Mr. McCall?! Really?!”_ Talia yells in disbelief.

 

Derek blinks at Talia and nods. “Yes. I am.”

 

Talia’s eyes widen and her mouth falls over. Derek thinks that his daughter’s head might actually explode as she starts to wave her hands as she gapes. Then she starts to wave her hands around wildly and runs back to where Erica, Boyd, Alicia are standing with Kira and her parents.

 

“ _Guys! Mr. McCall is gonna be my new daddy!!”_ she shouts in joy as she runs back to them. “ _We’re gonna be a family!!”_

 

Derek sure hopes that’ll be true. Someday.

********

Of course Braeden “accidently” drops a _few_ condoms into his jacket pocket when he drops Talia off at her house.

 

“Have fun tonight,” Braeden says slyly, wiggling her eyebrows as she walks Derek to his car.

 

Derek cuts his eyes at Braeden for second, but then he smiles. Before he thinks about, he hugs Braeden tightly, taking her a little bit by surprise.

 

“Thanks,” Derek says he hugs her.

 

Braeden pulls back and looks at him with a confused smile. “For what?”

 

“For annoying me about my feelings for Scott,” Derek says with genuine gratitude.  “I feel as though the combined efforts of you and Talia had a lot to do with me _finally_ confronting my feels.”

 

Braeden laughs, rolls her eyes, and crosses her arms.

 

“Derek, do you remember what you said when I started dating Allison?”

 

“Um, I think I asked you if she was going to shoot me.”

 

“ _After_ that!”

 

“I said that if you were happy, I was happy,” Derek answers simply, shrugging a little.

 

Braeden nods and looks at him as if he were an idiot. “I’ve told you this before, Derek! Why would I not want the same for you?”

 

Derek watches her for a moment, and then blushes. Braeden laughs again and starts to shoo him away.

 

“Now, go away!” Braeden says, waving her hands towards Derek’s car. “You have a date tonight!”

********

Okay, so Derek had planned _a lot_ at first. And it was _supposed_ to be a sophisticated evening.

 

Derek had ordered a bunch of food and had movies and dim-lighting and nice atmosphere. It was meant to be impressive.

 

But then Scott shows up in the softest looking sweater, a nice pair of jeans, and a beautiful smile, and Derek feels like he’s in middle school again. As Derek stutters out a greeting and pulls Scott into the house, he feels like he’s falling and floating at the same time.

 

It turns into them stuffing their faces, not trying to be impressive or put on a show or anything that Derek was still worried that he might have to do. It turns into them _trying_ to watch a movie, but then failing when they end up pausing the movie to talk about each other’s childhood.

 

It turns into Derek feeling heady—so very heady—when he realizes that he can count Scott’s eyelashes from where he’s sitting and it’s the closest he’s ever been to Scott more than a few seconds. They weren’t this close the night of Boyd’s birthday party.

 

It turns into Derek holding his breath and _leaning_ . . .

 

But then Scott is standing. And pacing.

 

“Scott?” Derek asks sadly, wondering he was wrong after all and maybe everyone was wrong. Maybe he’s gone too far.

 

“I’m sorry,” Scott says hastily, still pacing back and forth. “I’m sorry, but I just . . . I just need to clear something up before we go any further.”

 

“Okay,” Derek says seriously, sitting up straight.

 

Scott stops pacing and stares at Derek for a moment. Then he takes a deep breath.

 

“You want to be with me, right? You want a _real_ , long-lasting relationship?” Scott asks and Derek would laugh if Scott didn’t look so nervous. “Because I _feel_ like you do. I mean it seems obvious that you do, but I could wrong. For all I know, you could just want to hook up a couple of times and move on. But I can’t do that, Derek.”

 

“Scott,” Derek says softly, but Scott shakes his head and keeps talking.

 

 “I’ve never been able to do that with anyone, but I definitely can’t do it with you. It would be impossible. I just can’t. I care about you too much. I want you too much. I want _this_ too much. I want the conversations and dinners too much. I want, I mean I—”

 

“I love you,” Derek says suddenly and Scott freezes.

 

“. . . too much,” Scott mumbles. “Yeah . . . I love you too much for that, Derek.”

 

“No,” Derek says, huffing out a laugh. Then he stands up and walks over to where Scott is still frozen.

 

“No, Scott, I’m saying that _I_ love you too much for that,” Derek tells him. Derek reaches out and touches Scott’s hand. “I’m saying that I love you, Scott McCall.”

 

Scott stares at him and for a second Derek thinks that he’s broken. Scott blinks, looks down at Derek’s fingers tangled with his, and then back at Derek again.

 

And then Scott attacks Derek’s mouth.

 

Derek doesn’t quite recall falling on the floor, but he _does_ recall Scott’s tongue quite vividly.

 

He’s pretty sure that he and Scott are trying to discover new worlds in each other’s mouths.

 

They kiss breathlessly, desperately, like they’re both that the other is going to change his mind or something (that’d never happen, of course. Derek would never change his mind about Scott). Amidst kissing, they also seem to be ripping clothes off of each other.

 

When Scott breaks a kiss to help Derek get his shirt off, he grins at Derek wolfishly and Derek’s entire body flushes.

 

“Um, maybe we should move into the actual bedroom,” Derek suggest breathlessly.

 

Scott laughs, but then his face changes into a more familiar expression; that concerned one.

 

“I’m moving too fast, aren’t I?”

 

“Does my extreme boner and that fact that I’m suggesting that we go have sex in my bed rather than on my floor do _anything_ to suggest that I think you’re moving too fast?” Derek deadpans from beneath Scott.

 

“You know what? No, it doesn’t,” Scott answers, pulling Derek off of the floor.

 

And oh my God, Scott is almost too beautiful for Derek to even deal with right now. Shirtless, with rumbled hair, glowing skin, and look in his eyes that suggests that he plans on devouring Derek. It’s all too much and not enough.

 

Derek leads Scott to be the bedroom and he feels free and amazed and dazed all at once. Then Scott pounces on him again and he doesn’t know if he’ll survive it. Each kiss Scott trails down his stomach brings Derek closer to exploding.

 

“Scott,” Derek shamelessly whines, “I think I’m going to fucking die if you don’t touch me soon.”

 

Scott smirks at him and it’s side of him that Derek has both never seen and wants to see every day for the rest of his life. Scott reaches up and kisses Derek. Then he reaches into Derek’s underwear and wraps his hand around his cock.

 

“Is this good?” Scott asks cheekily as he squeezes. Scott watches Derek gasp and buck.

 

“I hate you so much,” Derek replies as Scott strokes slowly.

 

“Do you want me to stop?”

 

“I want you to do whatever you want.”

 

Scott smiles at him and apparently what he wants is to slide Derek’s underwear completely off, and put his mouth on Derek’s cock.

 

Derek lays back and gasps and he’s going to die if Scott keeps sucking him like this. Scott starts to stroke him again and Derek’s never hated and loved someone so much. And Scott goes on and on until Derek’s toes curl and spots appear behind his eyes and everything in his body screams _yes._

 

And Scott has to nerve to fucking _swallow_. And then smirk at him afterwards.

 

“I hate you,” Derek says breathlessly, splayed across his pillows.

 

“I love you, too, Derek,” Scott replies, crawling up the bed and lying as close to Derek as humanly possible (and Derek wants him so much closer). “I love you, too.”

 

*********

When Scott’s not teaching and Derek isn’t at work, they’re _together_.

 

They’re at the park with Talia, or they’re just sitting around Derek’s house, or they’re eating dinner at Scott’s apartment with Melissa.

 

If they aren’t hanging out with Boyd and Erica, or Stiles and Isaac, or Cora and Lydia, or even Braeden and Allison, then they’re at whatever random restaurant Scott suggested they try that night, or some movie Scott dared Derek to see.

 

If Scott’s not helping Talia with school work or listening to her tales about Kira and Alicia, they’re playing a board game, or a word game, or a hand game, or _something_.

 

And if Derek’s not kissing Scott—not touching him at every second he can—he’s watching Scott interact with Talia, or read, or smile. He’s watching Scott be his.

 

And Derek has never seen anything more beautiful.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry that it took me over a month to write this. Stuff was going on.
> 
> Most of this is not cannon complacent, because cannon is painful and makes me sad. And who doesn't love crack-ship filled kid fics anyway? 
> 
> Thanks for the patience! Sorry if it sucks!!
> 
> (｡◕‿◕｡)


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